PLAIN  ENGLISH: 


A  PRACTICAL   WORK   ON   THE 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE 


FOR  USE  IN 


PRIVATE:  SCHOOLS,  ACADEMIES, 
COMMERCIAL   COLLEGES, 


AND  FOR 


PRIVATE    LEARNERS. 


CLEVELAND,  OHIO  ! 

PRACTICAL  TEXT-BOOK  COMPANY, 
PUBLISHERS. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  - 
In  the  year  1892,  by 

THE  PRACTICAL  TEXT-BOOK  COMPANY, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress, 
at  Washington. 

EDUCATION  DEPT, 


DEDICATED 

TO 

THE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 

WHO 

"DOW  T  LIKE  GRAMMAR." 


541359 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

PAGE. 

THE  SENTENCE:    PARTS  OF  SPEECH  DEVELOPED i 

ANALYSIS  OP  SIMPLE  AND  COMPOUND  SENTENCES 13 

WORD-MAKING 27 

PARTS  OF  SPEECH  SUB-DIVIDED 32 

ANALYSIS  OF  COMPLEX  SENTENCES 49 

FORM-CHANGES  ("INFLECTIONS") 53 

VERB-PHRASES  EXPRESSING  TIME,  ETC 72 

INFINITIVES  AND  PARTICIPLE-PHRASES 78 

AUXILIARY  VERBS 82 

PECULIAR  USES  OF  WORDS  AND  PHRASES 85 

EXERCISES  FOR  ANALYSIS ,   .  .  96 

PART  II. 

NOUNS — Facts  concerning,  and  Errors  in  the  use  of 99 

Miscellaneous  Exercises  to  be  Corrected 100 

PRONOUNS. — Facts  concerning,  and  Errors,  in  the  use  of 100 

Miscellaneous  Errors  and  Exercises  to  be  Corrected 103 

ADJECTIVES.)  ^ 

>  Facts  concerning,  and  Errors  in  the  use  of ioz 

ADVERBS,      j 

Miscellaneous  Errors  and  Exercises  to  be  Corrected 108 

VERBS. — Facts  concerning,  and  Errors  in  the  use  of 112 

Miscellaneous  Errors  and  Exercises  to  be  Corrected 116 

PREPOSITIONS. — Facts  Concerning,  and  Errors  in  the  use  of 121 

Miscellaneous  Errors  and  Exercises  to  be  Corrected 122 

CONJUNCTIONS. — Facts  Concerning,  and  Errors  in  the  use  of 124 

Miscellaneous  Errors  and  Exercises  to  be  Corrected 125 

SUPERFLUOUS  WORDS 127 

POPULAR  ABSURDITIES 128 

"AWFUL"  WORDS 131 

MISUSED  WORDS 132 

BIG  WORDS  FOR  LITTLE  IDEAS - 141 

COUNTERFEIT  WORDS 144 

CLEARNESS  AND  FORCE 147 

HINTS  TO  YOUNG  WRITERS  AND  SPEAKERS * 161 

PUNCTUATION «,..<>.<»..  163 

CAPITAL  LETTERS *  ......  c  .  .  .  177 

APPROPRIATE  PREPOSITIONS »  .  .  .  179 

APPENDIX. 

NOTES,  QUOTATIONS,  AND  COMMENTS 191 


INTRODUCTORY. 


For  many  years,  there  has  been  an  earnest  and  increasing 
demand  for  a  practical  text-book  on  the  subject  of  language ;  a 
book  that  would  present  the  'essentials  of  English  syntax  unen- 
cumbered by  the  rubbish  of  which  the  average  " grammar"  has 
so  largely  consisted.  With  a  view  to  meeting  this  demand,  the 
present  work  has  been  prepared.  We  claim  merit  for  it  on  two 
leading  points :  i.  What  it  contains ;  2.  What  it  does  not  contain. 
We  believe  that  the  latter,  as  much  as  the  former,  entitles  it  to 
consideration. 

What  the  book  contains. — Some  things  that  are  new;  more 
that  are  not.  The  method  of  treating  the  subject  and  the  order 
of  arrangement  are  the  principal  features  of  originality.  In 
both  these  respects,  the  work  will  be  found  thoroughly  logical. 

PART  I  covers  the  essential  points  in  English  syntax,  includ- 
ing all  that  pertains  to  the  seven  parts  of  speech  and  the  analysis 
of  sentences.  Set  rules  have  purposely  been  omitted.  Definitions 
have  been  admitted  but  sparingly,  and  in  no  case  until  the 
thing  defined  has  been  fully  explained.  The  sentences  for 
practice  in  analysis  have  been  carefully  graded  so  as  to  lead  the 
student  on  in  a  well-lighted  pathway.  The  parsing  to  be  done  is 
informal, — not  of  the  "  cold-blooded  "  sort  which  has  so  long  been 
the  bane  of  English  grammar  teaching.  Apt  illustrations  and 
interesting  exercises  are  introduced  from  time  to  time,  and  the 
colloquial  style  of  presentation  has  been  adhered  to  throughout. 
These  features  will  enhance  the  value  of  the  book  in  the  hands 
of  beginners,  and  furnish  a  helpful  review  for  others.  Some  of 
the  lessons  may  seem  rather  long,  but  they  are  natural  rather 


V*  INTRODUCTORY. 

than '  arbitrary  divisions  of  the  work.  Considering  the  very  small 
part  to  be  committed  to  memory,  there  are  but  few  of  the  lessons 
that  may  not  be  taken  by  an  average  class  at  one  recitation. 

Some  may  be  surprised  to  find  in  a  work  claiming  to  be  prac- 
tical, that  time-honored  exercise,  conjugation  ;  but  a  closer  exam- 
ination will  reveal  the  fact  that  the  conjugating  is  not  of  the  "  I 
love,"  "You  love,"  "He  loves"  pattern.  Only  irregular  verbs 
are  given  for  practice,  and  of  these,  such  troublesome  ones  as  the 
oft-confused  lie  and  lay}  sit  and  set. 

PART  II  is  more  general  in  character,  covering  a  variety  of 
subjects  and  large  amount  of  material  for  practice,  all  of  which 
will  be  found  highly  practical.  The  chapters  on  Clearness  and 
Force,  and  Punctuation,  and  the  list  of  Appropriate  Prepositions 
will  be  found  especially  valuable  features.  Considerable  space 
has  been  given  to  the  study  of  misused  words  for  the  following 
reason:  Once  get  a  student  interested  in  a  critical  study  of 
words  and  current  phrases,  and  he  naturally  becomes  critical  re- 
garding other  features  of  English.  This  makes  of  him  a  "  reflect- 
ive user  of  language," — the  essential  thing  for  self-improvement. 

The  APPENDIX,  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  quotations  from 
the  very  best  authors,  constitutes  in  itself  a  valuable  book  of 
reference  for  teachers  and  advanced  students.  Many  of  the  spicy 
paragraphs,  particularly  those  from  the  pens  of  Gould,  Mathews, 
and  White,  on  misused  words,  will  help  to  enliven  the  work  and 
fix  the  points  in  the  minds  of  students. 

The  system  of  references  from  one  part  of  the  book  to  another, 
by  paragraph  numbers,  will  be  found  of  great  value  to  both 
student  and  teacher.  By  means  of  these,  all  facts  bearing  upon 
a  point  may  readily  be  found. 

The  general  plan  of  the  work  is  such  as  to  enable  a  student  to 
get  a  maximum  of  benefit  with  a  minimum  of  labor  and  time. 
Advanced  classes, — those  composed  of  students  who  have  ac- 
quired a  fair  knowledge  of  English  syntax — may  begin  study  at 
Part  II,  at  the  same  time  reviewing  the  essential  points  in  Part  I. 


INTRODUCTORY.  vn 

On  reaching  the  Appendix,  such  classes  may  continue  the  review 
work  by  means  of  the  references  to  all  parts  of  the  book. 

What  the  book  does  not  contain. — Upon  this  point,  particularly, 
we  base  our  claim  of  real  merit.  The  aim  has  been  to  exclude 
all  make-believe.  Only  the  facts  of  our  mother-tongue  have 
been  presented,  and  these  have  been  stated  in  plain  English. 
Mere  technicalities  are  "  conspicuous  for  their  absence." 

Teachers  have  long  been  asking  themselves  and  one  another  this 
question :  u  Why  do  we  not  get  better  results  from  our  teaching 
of  English  grammar?  "  To  this  we  venture  to  give  the  following 
answer :  We  have  been  attempting  to  teach  so  much  that  does 
not  belong  to  the  English  language.  A  large  part  of  our  so-called 
"grammar"  has  been  pure  make-believe.  In  the  words  of 
Richard  Grant  White,  we  have  been  trying  to  "measure  our 
English  corn  in  Latin  bushels."  Imported  Latinisms,  such  as 
'voice'  and  '  gender,'  together  with  fictitious  '  cases,'  'moods,' 
'  tenses,'  etc.,  and  equally  fictitious  rules  ^  have  consumed  much 
valuable  time  that  should  have  been  given  to  studying  the  reali- 
ties and  beauties  of  our  language.  We  have  been  teaching  too 
much  grammar,  not  enough  language.  Samuel  Ramsey  says  : 

"  The  weary  hours  and  years  spent  by  our  youth  in  parsing  Bnglish  sen- 
tences according  to  forms  borrowed  from  Greek  and  L,atin  are  worse  than 
wasted — useless  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  learning  to  speak  and  write,  and 
leading  to  a  misapprehension  of  what  our  language  is." 

The  small  remnants  of  real  grammar  in  our  language  ( to  be 
found  in  a  few  pronoun-forms,  one  '  case '  of  nouns,  two  adjectives, 
and,  to  a  very  limited  extent,  in  verbs )  form  a  very  inconsiderable 
part  of  English  syntax.  There  are  worse  errors  in  every-day 
speech  than  using  the  wrong  pronoun-form,  or  failing  to  make 
the  verb  "  agree  with  its  subject."  The  old  farmer  who  declares 
that  "them  horses  is  matches,"  commits  a  less  offense  against 
good  English  than  his  pretentious  city  cousin  who  announces 
that  "  those  horses  are  pretty  equally  matched  with  each  other." 
In  fact,  as  Mr.  Ramsey  says,  ours  is  a  language  in  which  "  the 
dictionary  counts  for  everything,  the  grammar  almost  nothing." 


viri  INTRODUCTORY. 


SUGGESTIONS   TO   TEACHERS    AND    PARENTS. 

To  Teachers  :  Read  the  preface  and  introduction  to  this  book  and  ask  your 
students  to  do  the  same. 

Read  carefully  all  foot-notes  and  notes  to  the  teacher. 

Require  students  to  read  all  references.  [It  may  be  best,  however,  to 
have  beginners  confine  their  reference  reading  to  Parts  I  and  II,  as  some  of 
the  points  in  the  Appendix  might  have  a  tendency  to  confuse  1  hem  at  the  start.  ] 

Get  up  enthusiasm  in  your  classes.  To  do  this,  do  n  >t  dwell  on  minor 
points ;  for  instance,  don't  spend  much  time  on  the  kinds  or  pronouns  and  ad- 
jectives in  Lessons  13  and  14.  All  parsing  should  be  informal  and  should  never 
include  facts  beyond  the  point  to  which  the  student  has  advanced  at  the  time. 

Remember  that  the  mere  correcting  of  errors  is,  in  itself,  of  little  value; 
indeed,  any  work  that  does  not  lead  a  student  to  think  for  himself  is  a  waste 
of  time. 

To  Parents :  Your  work  must  precede,  as  well  as  accompany,  that  of  the 
teacher  ;  his  work  is  supplementary  to  yours. 

You  can  do  very  much  by  encouraging  habits  of  promptness,  neatness,  and 
independent  effort  on  the  part  of  your  children.  Irregular  attendance  at  school 
is  fatal  to  genuine  success. 

Under  the  guise  of  "baby-talk,"  children  are  often  allowed  to  form  incorrect 
habits  of  speech  that  will  stick  to  them  through  life.  During  the  first  six  years 
of  his  life,  a  child  can  learn  more  that  is  wrong  than  he  can  possibly  unlearn 
in  the  next  dozen  years. 

Remember  that,  if  your  children  "  hear  poor  English  and  read  poor  English, 
they  will  pretty  surely  speak  poor  English  and  write  poor  English." 

To  both  teachers  and  parents,  the  following,  by  Professor  Whit- 
ney, contains  most  excellent  advice :  [  Italics  are  ours.  ] 

"  It  should  be  a  pervading  element  in  the  whole  school  and  home  training  of 
the  young  to  make  them  use  their  own  tongue  with  accuracy  and  force,  and? 
along  with  any  special  drilling  directed  to  this  end,  some  of  the  rudimentary 
distinctions  and  rules  of  grammar  are  conveniently  taught;  but  that  is  not  the 
study  of  grammar,  and  it  will  not  bear  the  intrusion  of  much  formal  grammar 
without  being  spoiled  for  its  own  ends.  It  is  constant  use  and  practice,  under 
never-failing  watch  and  correction,  that  makes  good  writers  and  speakers  ;  the 
application  of  direct  authority  is  the  most  efficient  corrective.  Grammar  has 
its  part  to  contribute,  but  rather  in  the  higher  than  in  the  lower  stages  of  the 
work.  One  must  be  a  somewhat  reflective  user  of  language  to  amend  even  here 
and  there  a  point  by  grammatical  reasons ;  and  no  one  ever  changed  from  a  bad 
speaker  to  a  good  one  by  applying  the  rules  of  grammar  to  what  he  said." 


PLAIN  ENGLISH. 


LESSON  1. 

1.  Words. — There  are  a  great  many  words  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, but  nearly  all  of  them  belong  to  a  few  classes  called  "  Parts 
of  Speech."      This  name,  '  part-of-speech,'   when  applied   to   a 
word,  signifies  that  there  is  something  incomplete  about  it ;  and 
this  is  true,  for  a  word  is  only  a  fraction  or  (  part '  of  our  speech, 
or  language,  as  we  use  it  in  speaking  or  writing.     (31.) 

2.  Sentences— If  a  person    says    'men,'    'boats,'    'flowers,' 
( boys,'  and  stops  without  saying  anything  else,  you  wonder  what 
he  means.     You  know  that  he  has  spoken  the  names  of  things, 
but  you  cannot  tell  whether  he  is  going  to  say  something  good 
or  something  bad  about  them.     Again,  if  he  speaks  the  words 
*  write,'  *  sail,'  *  bloom,'  '  work,'  without  using  other  words  with 
them,  you  do  not  understand  what  he  means,  because  he  has  told 
you  only  a  part  of  his  thought.     But  if  he  says — 

'Men  write,'  'Boats  sail,'  '  Flowers  bloom,'   'Boys  work,' 

you  begin  to  understand  his  thoughts,  because  he  not  only  has 
named  the  things  he  is  thinking  about,  but  has  told  you  what  he 
thinks  about  them.  When  two  or  more  words  are  put  together 
in  this  way  so  as  to  make  sense,  they  form  a  SENTENCE. 

3.  Subject  and  Predicate.— You  will  notice  that  each  of  the 
sentences    above    has  two  parts:       i.    The   part   about    which 
something  is  said.      This  is   called  the  SUBJECT.     2.  The  part 
that  asserts,  or  says  something  about  the  subject.   This  is  called 


PLAIN    ENGLISH. 


the  .  P^EDjOAl;e;  (  Predicate  means  f  to  speak  ' — ( to  assert.' ) 
Ne"aHy;ai}  'our*  sentences  contain  other  parts,  but  we  shall  find 
there  are  always  these  two  ;  in  fact,  we  cannot  make  sense  with- 
out them.  If  we  say — 

'  Business  men  write  rapidly,'  '  The  large  boats  sail  smoothly,' 

'  Pretty  flowers  bloom  in  the  meadow,'  *  Industrious  boys  work  hard,' 

we  do  not  change  the  subjects  and  predicates  of  our  sentences, 
except  to  add  other  words  to  them  to  bring  in  other  ideas  we  wish 
to  express. 

4.  In  a  game  of  base-ball,  each  player  is  named  from  the  part 
he  takes,  or  what  he  does ;  as  "  pitcher,"  "  catcher,"  "  umpire," 
etc.     So  it  is  with  the  words  we  use  in  our  sentences.     What  a 
word  does  decides  what  part-of-speech  it  is. 

(a)  All  words  used  like  *  men,'  'boats,'  'flowers,'  and  'boys,' 
in  the  sentences  above,  to  name  things,  are  called  nouns. 

(b)  All  words  used  like  'write,'  'sail,'  'bloom,'  and  'work,' 
to  assert,  or  say  something  of  the  subject,  are  called  verbs. 

(  c )  The  words '  the,' '  large,' '  pretty,' '  business,'  and  '  industri- 
ous,' are  not  used  like  (  men,'  '  boats,'  '  flowers,'  '  meadow,'  and 
'  boys,'  to  name  things,  so  we  do  not  call  them  nouns.  Neither 
are  the  words  '  rapidly,'  '  smoothly,'  '  in,'  and  '  hard,'  in  these 
sentences,  used  like  the  words  *  write,'  '  sail,'  '  bloom,'  and  '  work,' 
to  assert,  therefore  they  are  not  verbs. 

5.  Now  let  us  see  what  we  have  learned  in  this  lesson  : 

FIRST. — Parts  of  speech  are  the  classes  into  which  words  are 
divided  according  to  what  they  do  in  sentences.  (331-) 

SECOND. — A  sentence  consists  of  two  or  more  words  put  together 
so  as  to  make  sense,  or  express  a  thought. 

THIRD. — A  sentence  is  composed  of  two  parts:  i.  The  sub- 
ject, naming  the  thing  about  which  something  is  asserted  ;  and, 
2.  The  predicate -,  which  does  the  asserting. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  .    8 

FOURTH. — Words  used  to  name  things  are  called  nouns. 
FIFTH. — Words  used  to  assert  are  called  verbs.     (332-) 

SIXTH. — That  all  other  words  in  a  sentence  will  be  named  ac- 
cording to  what  they  do. 

SENTENCE    MAKING. 
6.    Make   sentences  by  asserting  something  of  the  following 

Subjects  :      ( Do  not  supply  more  than  one  word.) 


trees horses girls winds.. 

soldiers clerks women snow... 

children animals bees John.., 

birds students flags Carrie. 


To  what  part-of-speech  do  the  words  you  have  supplied  be- 
long? 

7.    Make  sentences  by  naming  subjects  for  the  following  pred- 
icates I      ( Do  not  supply  more  than  one  word. ) 


walk      fly  sleep  recite 

swim      build  sew  study 

....travel      sting  read  grows 

...strike      decay  burns  writes 


To  what  part-of-speech  do  the  words  you  have  supplied  be- 
long? 

8.  For  your  next  lesson,  write  ten  sentences  of  two  words  each, 
by  furnishing  both  subject  and  predicate.  Then,  to  the  subjects 
and  predicates  of  five  of  these  sentences,  add  one  or  two  words, 
as  we  did  with  the  sentence  '  Boys  work.' 

MODEL  :    The  industrious  boys  work  hard.    [  See  Rule  i  for  capitals.  323.] 


4  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

LESSON  2. 

Review  first  lesson. 

9.  We  learned  in  our  first  lesson  that  we  can  express  a  thought 
with  two  parts  of  speech,  a  noun  and  a  verb. 

We  learned  also  that  a  verb  is  a  word  that  asserts,  and  that  the 
predicate  of  the  sentence  is  the  part  that  asserts  or  says  some- 
thing about  the  subject.  Hence,  we  conclude  that  every  predi- 
cate must  contain  a  verb. 

10.  The  predicate  often  consists  of  more  than  one  word  ;  as — • 

The  comet  was  seen.    John  had  been  writing. 

In  the  first  sentence,  it  takes  two  words  to  make  the  assertion, 
was  seen;  in  the  second,  three  are  required:  had  been  writing. 
When  two  or  more  words  must  be  taken  together  in  this  way  to 
express  a  meaning,  they  are  called  a  phrase.  Thus,  was  seen 
and  had  been  writing  are  VERB-PHRASES.  (333.) 

11.  Pronouns.— While  the  verb  is  the  only  part-of-speech  that 
can  be  used  to  make  an  assertion,  a  noun  is  not  the  only  one  that 
can  be  used  as  the  subject,  that  is,  to  tell  what  we  are  talking 
about.     If  a  teacher,  in  speaking  of   the  boys  and  girls  in  his 
school,  should  say  "  They  study,"  or  if  he  should  point  to  George 
and  say  "  He  studies,"  or  to  Mary  and  say  "  She  studies,"  you 
would  understand  his  meaning,  although  he  would  not  be  using 
anyone's  name.     The  words  he,  she,  and  they,  are  used  in  place 
of  the  names  of  the  persons ;  hence,  they  are  called  PRONOUNS. 
(  Pro-  "means  '  for  '  or  4  in  the  place  of. ' ) 

A  pronoun  mentions  a  thing  without  naming  it.    (334.) 

12.  There   are   not    many    pure   pronouns  in  our  language. 
Those  you  will  use  oftenest  as  subjects  of  sentences  are  I>  you, 
he,  she,  we,  they,  and  it.     Write   seven  sentences  using  these 
pronouns  for  subjects.     Let  the  sentences  be  short.     Use  verb- 
phrases  for  some  of  the  predicate;:?, 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  5 

13.  We  shall  find  that  words  generally  used  as  other  parts  of  speech  are 
sometimes  used  as  pronouns,  that  is, '  to  represent  things  without  naming  them.' 
Both  nouns  and  pronouns  have  other  uses  besides  being  the  subjects  of  sen- 
tences. We  shall  learn  about  this  at  another  time. 

Tell  what  thing  is  represented  by  each  of  the  italicized  words 
in  the  following 

FABLE. 

A  fox  once  invited  a  stork  to  dine  with  him.  He  set  before  her  a  shallow 
dish  of  food.  The  fox  ate  of  it  greedily  for  the  dish  suited  his  short  nose. 
But  the  poor  bird,  dipping  in  the  end  of  her  long  beak,  could  scarcely  take  up 
any  of  it.  "  You  do  not  take  your  soup,"  said  the  fox.  "  /  fear  you  do  not 
like  tY."  Then  he  bade  the  servant  bring  some  puddings.  But  when  the  pud- 
dings were  brought,  they  also  were  all  in  shallow  dishes,  so  that  the  poor 
stork  could  not  enjoy  them.  The  spiteful  fox  enjoyed  his  cruel  joke,  but  the 
hungry  stork  went  home  angry.  However,  she  determined  to  revenge  herself  on 
her  cunning  enemy.  She  waited  till  the  fox  had  forgotten  his  trick  and  then 
she  sent  him  an  invitation  to  dinner.  When  they  sat  down  there  were  six 
dishes  on  the  table,  but  they  were  so  narrow  at  their  tops  that  the  fox  could  not 
get  his  head  into  them.  He  tried  each  dish,  but  in  vain.  Meantime,  the  stork 
dipped  in  her  long  bill  and  dined  very  pleasantly ;  but  the  fox  was  silent  and 
sullen.  Presently  he  burst  out :  "  /  do  not  like  your  dishes,  Mrs.  Stork."  "  Nor 
did  /  like  your  dishes,  Mr.  Fox." 

Point  out  thirty-eight  nouns  in  this  fable. 


LESSON  3. 

14.  You  have  seen  that  a  great  many  sentences  can  be  formed 
by  using  a  noun  or  pronoun  for  the  subject  and  a  verb  for  the 
predicate.  These  three  parts  of  speech  are  the  only  ones  that 
can  form  sentences  without  the  help  of  other  words.  But  there 
are  other  parts  of  speech  in  most  of  our  sentences,  and  we  are 
now  to  consider  two  of  them  that  are  very  closely  connected 
with  the  subject  and  predicate. 


6  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

16.    Adjectives.— If  we  say — 

'  The  chilly  wind  blows/  '  This  red  rose  has  faded/ 
'  The  light  wood  burns/  '  The  cold  rain  was  falling/ 

we  add  the  words  '  the,7  '  this,'  '  chilly/  *  light,'  '  red,'  and  '  cold/ 
to  the  nouns  to  describe  or  point  out  the  things  named.  All 
words  added  to  nouns  in  this  way  are  called  ADJECTIVES.  The 
word  "  adjective  "  means  '  added,'  that  is,  added  to  a  noun.  (335.) 

When  we  say  '  Wood  burns/  we  make  a  general  statement,  that  is,  we  say  a 
thing  that  is  true  of  any  kind  of  wood ;  but  when  we  say  '  the  wood/  or  '  this 
wood/  or  '  hard  wood/  or  '  light  wood/  we  limit  the  word  '  wood '  to  some  par- 
ticular kind,  or  to  some  particular  piece  of  wood,  by  pointing  out  or  describing 
the  wood  we  are  speaking  about.  Words  added  to  a  noun  in  this  way  are  said  to 
"  qualify  "  or  "  limit "  it,  since  they  tell  what  kind  or  quality  the  thing  is,  or 
else  they  point  out  a  certain  object  and  thus  limit  the  name  so  we  can  tell  which 
one  is  meant.  Therefore — 

An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun  to  qualify  or 
limit  its  meaning. 

(a)  You  may  generally  know  an  adjective  by  its  answering  one  of  the 
following  questions :     Which?     What  kind?    How  many? 

Remark. — Sometimes  several  adjectives  limit  or  qualify  the  same  noun. 

(b)  Words  that  limit  or  qualify  other  words  are  called  modifiers,  because 
they  modify  ('affect')  the  ideas  represented  by  the  words  to  which  they  are 
added. 

Point  out  the  adjectives  in  the  sentences  at  (a)  in  paragraph 
40,  and  tell  what  question  each  one  answers. 

16.  Predicate  Adjectives.— When  we  say  *  Apples  fall,'  we 
make  a  general  statement ;  but  in  the  sentence,  '  Ripe  apples  fall,' 
we  limit  the  statement  to  a  certain  kind  or  class  of  apples,  by 
adding  the  word  '  ripe  '  to  the  noun.  But  this  is  not  the  only 
way  to  add  a  describing  word  to  a  noun,  for  we  may  say — 

'  The  apples  are  ripe.1 

In  this  sentence  we  have  done  more  than  simply  call  them 
4  ripe  apples ; '  we  have  made  a  positive  assertion  that  they  are 
ripe.  You  will  notice  that  the  little  word  '  are  '  does  the  assert- 
ing, therefore  it  is  a  verb.  You  will  notice  also  that  if  you  drop 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  7 

the  word  (  ripe '  and  say  '  The  apples  are,'  the  verb  '  are  '  does 
not  seem  to  make  a  complete  predicate.  It  requires  the  addition 
of  some  word  to  make  the  sense  complete.  Now,  ripe  is  not  a 
verb  but  an  adjective  describing  the  apples,  and  it  is  connected 
to  the  subject  by  are. 

(a)  Besides  are,  there  are  a  few  other  verbs  that  do  not  make  complete  pred- 
icates by  themselves.     The  commonest  of  them  are  be,  am,   is,  was,  and 
were.  ( 100  b,  Note.}     They  are  called  copula  verbs, because  they  are  almost 
always  followed  by  some  word  which  they  couple  ( '  connect ' )  to  the  subject, 
and  which  describes  or  limits  the  subject  in  some  way. 

(b)  When  an  adjective  is  used  as  we  used  (ripe,'  to  complete 
the  sense  of  the  predicate  and  qualify  the  subject,  it  is  called  a 
PREDICATE  ADJECTIVE,  that  is,  an  adjective  in  the  predicate.  (342.) 

Examples :    Iron  is  heavy.    John  was  sick.    We  are  sorry.    I  am  well. 

Make  sentences  of  the  following  by  putting  adjectives  after  the 
copula  verbs : 

The  sun  is The  water  is 

The  peaches  are The  nuts  are 


The  children  were The  flowers  were. 

The  fire  was The  ice  was 

The  cherries  were....  The  men  were... 


(c)  The  copulas  are  often  put  before  other  verbs  to  help  form 
verb-phrases;  as — 

They  are  walking,    tie.  was  writing.    The  berries  were  picked. 
Make  sentences  by  putting  verbs  in  the  blanks  given  above. 

17.  Nouns  and  pronouns  are  often  used  to  complete  the  predi- 
cate assertion,  being  coupled  to  the  subject  by  some  copula  verb. 
They  are  then  called  predicate-nouns  and  pronouns.  (342.) 

Examples :  Willie  is  a  cash-boy.  Frank  is  a  reporter.  They  are  miners. 
We  were  chums.  It  is  I.  It  was  she.  It  was  they. 

Make  sentences  of  the  following  by  putting  nouns  after  the 
copulas : 

Charles  is Mr.  Morgan  is lyillie  is 

We  are He  was They  were 


8  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

Complete  the  following  by  putting  pronouns  after  the  copulas : 

(  Use  only  the  pronouns  given  in  paragraph  12. ) 

It  is It  is It  is It  is 

It  was It  was It  was It  was 

WORD   EXERCISE.     (Oral.) 

18.     Furnish  adjectives  that  mean  the  opposite  of  these: 

hard,  sorry,  ripe,  little,  white, 

careful,  smooth,  late,  honest,  narrow, 

sweet,  full,  weak,  tough,  happy, 

crooked,  long,  noisy,  slow,  light. 

Write  sentences  containing  these  adjectives,  or  their   opposites,  and  hand 
them  in  at  your  next  lesson. 

( a )     Write  sentences  containing  the  following  words  used  in 
the  ways  indicated : 

Plow,  as  a  noun  ;  as  a  verb.        Plant,  as  a  noun ;  as  a  verb. 
Paint,  as  a  noun ;  as  a  verb.       Lost,  as  a  verb ;  as  an  adjective. 
Fire,  as  a  noun  ;  as  a  verb.          Cold,  as  a  noun  ;  as  an  adjective. 
Light,  as  a  noun  ;  as  a  verb ;  as  an  adjective. 

MODEX  :    All  hope  is  gone.  ( noun. )     I  hope  not.  ( verb. ) 


LESSON  4. 

Review,  and  discuss  sentences  brought  in  by  students. 

19.  Adverbs. — In  our  last  lesson,  we  learned  about  the  words 
that  are  added  to  the  noun  to  qualify  or  limit  its  meaning.  Now 
let  us  look  at  some  of  those  words  we  added  to  the  verbs  in  our 
first  lesson.  Take  the  sentence,  '  Business  men  write  rapidly.' 
We  may  leave  off  the  last  word  and  still  have  a  sentence,  since 
the  other  three  words  will  make  sense  without  it.  The  word 
'  rapidly  '  is  added  to  the  word  '  write  '  to  express  another  idea 
we  have  in  mind.  It  tells  how  the  men  write.  Words  used  in 
this- way  are  called  ADVERBS,  which  means  *  added  to  verbs.' 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  9 

20.  While  nearly  all  adverbs  are  added  to  verbs  to  qualify 
them,  sometimes  an  adverb  is  added  to  an  adjective  to  answer 
the  question  how  f  before  it ;  as — 

The  air  was  very  impure.     The  road  is  too  rough. 

Here  the  adverbs  '  very  '  and  '  too  '  are  added  to  the  adjectives  '  impure '  and 
1  rough  '  to  tell  how  impure  and  how  rough.  Too  and  very  are  always  adverbs. 

( a )  Again,  an  adverb  is  sometimes  added  to  another  adverb 
to  answer  the  question  how  ? 

Examples :    It  rained  very  gently.    You  must  work  more  carefully. 

An  adverb  is  a  word  that  modifies  the  meaning  of  a  verb  or  an  ad- 
jective, and  it  sometimes  modifies  another  adverb.  (336.) 

21.  If  we  say  '  Some  business  men  write  very  rapidly,'  we  qualify  not  only 
write,  by  adding  to  it  the  word  '  rapidly,'  but  also  rapidly,  by  adding  to  it  the 
word  '  very.' 

Notice,  too,  that  we  have  limited  the  subject  still  further,  by  using  the  word 
'  some,'  which  expresses  the  idea  that  not  all  business  men  write  very  rapidly, 
but  that  some  of  them  do. 

Thus  each  word  we  use  in  a  sentence  represents  some  idea.  Each  word  does 
something  to  help  us  express  our  thoughts.  So,  we  may  say  that  a  word  is  the 
sign  of  an  idea.  An  idea  is  a  part  of  a  complete  thought.  When  we  say — 

'  The  beautiful  little  violets  bloom  in  the  springtime,' 

the  idea  of  beauty  and  the  idea  of  their  being  little  are  parts  of  the  thought 
we  express  about  the  violets. 

22.  How  to  Tell  Adverbs.— We   can  generally  tell  without 
much  trouble  which  words  are  adverbs,  for  they  will  answer  one 
of  the  following  questions  :     How  ?     When  ?     Where  ?     Why  f 
How  long  ?    How  often  ?  and  sometimes  How  much  ?   but  not 
How  many?     In  the  following   sentences,  fill  the  blanks  with 
adverbs  that  will  answer  some  of  these  questions : 

That  man  works (how?)  'quietly;'  (when?)  daily. 

The  train  runs The  soldiers  marched 

The  girl  studies The  fire  burns 

The  rain  falls He  talked sensibly. 

You  should  walk He  was confident. 

The  men  fought She  reads rapidly. 


10  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

23.  Point  out   the   nouns,   pronouns,   verbs,    adjectives,    and 
adverbs   in   the   following   sentences   and   tell   what   words  the 
adverbs  modify : 

The  leader  spoke  loudly.  Wet  wood  burns  slowly. 

The  soldiers  stepped  quickly.  He  was  very  seriously  hurt. 

The  flowers  were  quite  fragrant      Then  we  walked  more  carefully. 

Tell  which  of  the  underscored  words  in  the  fable  on  page  5  are  adjectives  and 
which  are  adverbs.  Tell  in  each  case  what  the  word  modifies  and  what  ques- 
tion it  answers.  [See  paragraphs  15  (a)  and  22.] 

See  how  many  pronouns,  adjectives,  and  adverbs  you  can  find  in  the  story  of 
"Judge  Grammar's  Court,"  in  paragraph  125. 

24.  The  same  word  may  be  an  adjective  in  one  sentence  and 
an  adverb  in  another.    [See  paragraph  4.] 

WORD  EXERCISE.      ( Oral  or  Written. ) 

Use  each  of  the  following  words,  first  as  an  adjective,  then  as 
an  adverb :  Little,  late,  hard,  first,  fast,  last,  much,  more,  high, 
long,  short. 


LESSON  5. 

25*  We  have  learned  about  the  independent  parts  of  speech — 
nouns,  pronouns,  and  verbs.  With  these  we  can  form  sentences 
without  the  help  of  other  words.  We  have  also  studied  about 
the  modifying  parts  of  speech — adjectives  and  adverbs. 

We  are  now  ready  to  study  about  two  other  classes  of  words 
that  we  often  use  in  our  sentences.  Let  us  see  what  they  do. 

26.  Prepositions. — We  have  seen  how  a  noun  or  pronoun  may 
be  used  as  the  subject  of  a  sentence.  By  putting  some  word  like 
at,  in,  of,  to,  by,  for,  from,  with,  or  without,  before  them,  we  may 
use  nouns  or  pronouns  4n  the  place  of  adjectives  and  adverbs  to 
describe  or  limit  nouns  and  verbs.  Thus,  we  may  say — 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  II 

4  He  is  a  man  of  wealth?  or, '  He  is  a  wealthy  man.' 

'  A  toad  with  horns  is  a  curiosity,'  or,  '  A  horned  toad  is  a  curiosity.' 

'  A  tree  without  leaves  is  not  beautiful,'  or, '  A  leafless  tree  is  not ' — etc. 

1 1  spoke  in  haste'  instead  of,  '  I  spoke  hastily.' 

'  She  writes  with  ease?  instead  of,  *  She  writes  easily/ 

'  He  went  at  that  time?  instead  of,  '  He  went  then.' 

In  the  first  three  of  these  sentences,  the  phrases  *  of  wealth,' 
1  with  horns,'  and  (  without  leaves,'  are  used  in  the  place  of  the 
adjectives  wealthy,  horned,  and  leafless.  In  the  other  three,  the 
phrases  '  in  haste,'  '  with  ease,'  and  *  at  that  time,'  take  the  place 
of  the  adverbs  hastily,  easily,  and  then. 

The  little  words  that  begin  these  phrases  are  called  PREPOSI- 
TIONS. (337.) 

27.  A  phrase,  as  we  have  already  learned  (10) ,  is  made  up  of 
words  which  must  be  read  together  to  show  their  meaning  in  the 
sentence. 

(a)  When  a  phrase  takes  the  place  of  an  adjective,  it  is  called 
an  adjectival  phrase.     ( 338. ) 

( b )  When  it  takes  the  place  of  an  adverb,  a  phrase  is  called 
adverbial. 

28.  Point  out  the  prepositions  in  the  following  sentences  and 
tell  whether  they  begin  adjectival  or  adverbial  phrases  ;  also  tell 
what  single  word  each  of  the  phrases  is  equivalent  to : 

MODEL :  A  man  of  prudence  was  chosen.  Of  is  a  preposition  intro- 
ducing the  adjectival  phrase  of  prudence,  which  is  equivalent  to  the  adjective 
'  prudent,'  describing  '  man.'  The  sentence  when  abbreviated  reads,  'A  prudent 
man  was  chosen.' 

i.  An  act  of  kindness  pays.  2.  A  thing  of  beauty  is  adr  ired.  3.  Trips  of 
pleasure  were  taken.  4.  A  boy  without  a  home  should  be  pitied.  5.  He  is  a 
man  of  honor.  6.  A  person  of  experience  is  wanted.  7.  It  was  an  act  of 
bravery.  8.  The  soldiers  were  men  without  fears.  9.  We  all  went  in  haste. 
10.  They  listened  with  reverence,  n.  He  lived  by  himself.  12.  That  man 
spoke  without  thought.  13.  The  soldier  was  rewarded  for  his  deed  of  heroism. 

Point  out  the  subjects  and  predicates  in  the  sentences  above. 
Point  out  the  prepositions  and  phrases  in  the  fable  on  page  5. 


12  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

29.  Conjunctions. — In  the  sentences — 

John  and  Henry  went  to  school,  Mary  plays  and  sings  well, 
The  man  or  his  wife  will  come,  I  am  not  glad  but  sorry, 

we  have  three  words  that  are   different  from  any  we  have  yet 
studied. 

In  the  first  sentence,  the  subject  is  'John  and  Henry,'  the  two  names  being 
joined  together  by  the  word  '  and.'  In  the  second  sentence,  the  same  word  con- 
nects the  two  verbs,  '  plays '  and  '  sings.'  In  the  third  sentence,  or  is  used  to 
connect  the  two  nouns  'man'  and  'wife.'  In  the  last  sentence,  but  joins 
together  the  adjectives  '  glad '  and  '  sorry.' 

(a)  These  words,  and,  or,  but,  and  others  like  them,  are  called 
CONJUNCTIONS.     (  Con-  means  '  together ; '  junction,  '  to  join.' ) 

[For  list  of  principal  conjunctions,  see  paragraphs  no  (a)  and  112.] 

( b )  Conjunctions  often  connect  phrases ;  thus — 

They  rushed  into  the  house  and  up  the  stairs. 

Here  the  two  abverbial  phrases,  *  into  the  house  '  and  '  up  the  stairs,'  are 
joined  together  by  and. 

(c)  Conjunctions  are  also  used  to  join  sentences  together ;  as — 

John  came  and  I  went.     She  played  but  they  did  not  sing. 

(d)  We  find,  from  the  above,  that — 

Conjunctions  join  together  words,  phrases,  and  sentences.    (339.) 

30.  For  your  next  lesson,  write  five  answers  to  each  of  the 
following  questions,  using  a  preposition  in  each  answer : 

Where  did  John  go  ?     Where ',  or  how,  did  they  travel  ?     When  did  you  go  ? 

MODELS  :  John  went  into  the  house.  They  traveled  through  Europe,  by  boat. 
I  went  in  the  evening, — after  school, — before  supper. 

Point  out  the  conjunctions  in  the  sentences  in  paragraph  51. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  13 

LESSON   6. 

Review  briefly  the  seven  parts  of  speech. 

31.  We  have  learned  that  there  are  seven  different  ways  in 
which  words  may  be  used  in  sentences  to  express  our  thoughts. 
There  are  a  few  words  that  are  sometimes  used  along  with  sen- 
tences  to  make  exclamations,   or  express  some  strong  feeling. 
They  are  such  as,  O  !  oh  !  ah  !  pshaw  !  hello  !  hurrah  !  halleluiah  ! 
and     are     called    interjections.      Since    these    words    express 
feelings  and  not  ideas,  they  do  not  add  anything  to  the  thought 
of  the  sentence  with  which  they  are  used,  therefore,  they  are  not 
properly  "  parts  of  speech."     They  might  be  compared  to  the 
boys  that  sit  on  the  fence  and  yell  while  the  men  are  playing 
ball.     These  boys  do  not  take  part  in  the  game.     They  simply 
give  expression  to  their  feelings.     (340.) 

Note. — Besides  the  interjections,  there  are  but  few  words  in  our  language  that 
are  ever  used  in  such  a  way  that  we  cannot  name  them  as  belonging  to  one  of 
the  seven  parts  of  speech.  The  principal  ones  are  yes  and  no,  used  in  answer- 
ing questions ;  it  and  there,  when  used  as  indefinite  subjects  of  sentences ; 
and  SO,  well,  now,  why,  and  that,  when  used  merely  to  introduce  sen- 
tences. 

Examples:  Did  he  go?  No.  Are  you  busy?  Yes.  There  are  exceptions 
to  all  rules.  Well,  it  is  finished.  So,  you  are  going,  are  you  ?  //  is  true  that 
I  am  going.  Why,  I  am  surprised.  Now,  it  happened  in  this  way. 

32.  The  base-ball  player  does  not  always  take  the  same  part. 
For  instance,  the  "  short-stop  "  for  a  base-ball  team  in  one  game 
may  be  the  "  catcher"  in  the  next  game ;  yet  he  will  be  the  same 
person.     So  it  is  with  most  of  the  words  we  use.     They  do  not 
always  belong  to  the  same  part-of-speech,  because  they  do  not 
always  do  the  same  thing  in  the  sentences.     To  illustrate  this, 
take  the  following  sentences : 

Singing  was  taught.    They  are  singing.    The  singing  bird  delighted  us. 

Here  the  word  *  singing  '  does  three  different  things.  In  the 
first  sentence,  it  appears  as  the  name  of  an  action,  therefore  it  is 


14  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

a  noun  ;  in  the  second,  it  is  one  of  the  asserting  words,  therefore 
it  is  a  verb ;  while  in  the  third,  it  describes  or  qualifies  the  noun 
'  bird,'  therefore  it  is  an  adjective.  So  you  see  we  cannot  name  a 
word  ( tell  what  part-of-speech  it  belongs  to )  until  we  find  out 
what  it  does  in  the  sentence. 

33.  The  work  of  finding  out  what  a   word   does   and   then 
naming  it,  is  called  PARSING.     There  are  two  steps  in  parsing : 
i.  Pointing  out  the  subject  and  predicate,  and  the  words  and 
phrases   that    modify    them.     2.  Naming  the    part-of-speech  to 
which    each    word   belongs.      The  first   step   is   usually  called 
analysis. 

34.  Elements. — To  analyze  anything  is  *  to  unloose '  or  ( sepa- 
rate it  into  its  parts ; '  and  we  speak  of  '  analyzing '  a  sentence 
when  we  pick  out  the  subject  and  predicate  and  other  parts,  be- 
cause we  do,  in  a  sense,  *  unloose '  or  *  separate '  them  from  one 
another.     These  parts  of  a  sentence  are  called  its  ELEMENTS. 

(a)  An  element  of  a  sentence  may  consist  of  a  word,  a  phrase,  or  a  clause. 
So  far,  our  phrases  have  been  either  verb-phrases,  adjectival  phrases,  or  adverbial 
phrases  ;  but,  as  we  shall  see  farther  on,  phrases  of  one  kind  or  another  may  be 
used  as  any  part  of  a  sentence. 

35.  Principal  Elements.— In  our  first  lesson  we  found  that 
each  sentence  must  contain  at  least  two  elements,  a  subject  and  a 
predicate.  ( 3. )    Since  no  sentence  can  be  formed  without  these 
two,  and  since  they  can  express  a  thought  without  the  help  of 
other  elements,  the  subject  and  predicate  are  called  PRINCIPAL 
ELEMENTS.     ( Principal  means  *  highest  in  rank  or  importance.' ) 

36.  Sentences  containing  only  principal  elements,  to  be  ana- 
lyzed and  parsed : 

Example  of  Analysis  and  Parsing :  Snow  melts.  Snow  is  the  subject  of 
this  sentence,  and  melts  is  the  predicate.  Snow  is  the  name  of  something, 
therefore  it  is  a  noun.  Melts  is  an  asserting  word,  therefore  it  is  a  verb. 

Winds  blow.  Lawyers  plead.  Flowers  bloom. 

Men  trade.  Water  freezes.  Merchants  fail. 

Women  sew.  She  cried.  Children  play. 

Railroads  are  built.  He  was  arrested.  Letters  were  written. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  15 

37.  Subordinate  Elements.— We  have  seen  that  other  parts 
may  be  added  to  the  subject  and  predicate  to  bring  in  other  ideas. 
Thus,  we  may  say — 

'  The  snow  on  the  mountain  melts  slowly.' 

Here  the  subject  (  snow  '  is  modified  by  the  adjective  '  the '  and 
the  phrase  '  on  the  mountain ; '  while  the  predicate  *  melts '  is 
modified  by  the  adverb  '  slowly.'  Snow  is  the  bare  subject,  and 
The  snow  on  the  mountains  is  the  complete  subject.  ( Melts  '  is 
the  bare  predicate,  while  melts  slowly  is  the  complete  predicate. 

( a )  The  bare  subject  is  the  subject  without  its  modifiers. 
The  complete  subject  is  the  bare  subject  with  all  its  modifiers. 

(b)  The  bare  predicate  is  the  predicate  without  its  modifiers. 
The  complete  predicate  is  the  bare  predicate  with  all  its  modifiers. 

Remarks. — The  bare  subject  and  bare  predicate  are  also  called  the  «»- 
modified  subject  and  unmodified  predicate.  (341.) 

The  complete  subject  and  complete  predicate  are  also  called  the  modified 
subject  and  modified  predicate. 

(c)  All  the  words  and  phrases  added  to  the  bare  subject  and 
bare  predicate  to  form  the  complete  subject  and  complete  pred- 
icate are  called  SUBORDINATE  ELEMENTS.     ( Subordinate  means 
'  lower  in  rank  or  importance.' ) 

There  are  four  subordinate  elements ;  namely,  adjectival, 
adverbial,  objective,  and  connecting. 

38.  An  adjectival  element  modifies  a  noun  or  pronoun. 

39.  An  adverbial  element  modifies  any  other  part-of-speech 
except  nouns  and  pronouns.     ( 336  b. ) 

Remark. — Adjectival  and  abverbial  elements,  when  they  are  single  words,  are 
generally  adjectives  and  adverbs ;  but  we  shall  see  farther  on  that  nouns  and 
pronouns  are  sometimes  used  for  these  elements. 

40.  Sentences  containing  adjectival  and  adverbial  elements, 
to  be  analyzed  and  parsed  : 

MODEI,  :  The  whole  train  was  badly  wrecked.  Train  is  the  bare  sub- 
ject, and  was  wrecked  is  the  bare  predicate.  The  complete  subject  is  The  whole 


16 


PLAIN    ENGLISH. 


train  ;  the  complete  predicate,  was  badly  wrecked.  Train  is  a  name,  therefore 
it  is  a  noun.  Was  wrecked  makes  the  assertion,  therefore  it  is  a  verb-phrase. 
The  and  whole  limit  the  noun  'train,'  therefore  they  are  adjectives.  Badly 
modifies  the  verb-phrase  '  was  wrecked,'  therefore  it  is  an  adverb. 


f  a )     Cold  winds  blow. 
The  little  birds  sing. 
The  pretty  flowers  bloom. 
Business  men  trade. 
The  ship  was  staunch. 
The  winter  is  mild. 
The  little  children  are  happy. 
Stale  food  is  unwholesome. 
Long  letters  were  written. 
They  should  be  made  solid. 
The  boy  has  been  absent. 
The  weather  had  been  hot. 
Those  papers  will  be  valuable. 


( b )     Those  men  talk  loudly. 

The  clerk  was  very  angry. 

Such  sights  are  rarely  seen. 

The  note  is  now  due. 

They  seldom  make  a  mistake. 

We  were  greatly  disappointed. 

The  market  is  extremely  dull. 

The  water  is  not  pure. 

That  man  always  pays  promptly. 

That  lady  is  very  graceful. 

The  streets  were  nearly  blockaded. 

The  bargain  has  just  been  completed. 

She  has  always  been  cheerful. 


Notice  that  a  verb-phrase,  as  well  as  a  single  copula  verb,  may 
be  followed  by  an  adjective. 

41.  Sentences  containing  adjectival  and  abverbial  phrase- 
elements,  to  be  analyzed  and  parsed : 

MODEI,  :  A  gentle  breeze  was  blowing  from  the  south.  Bare  subject, 
breeze ;  bare  predicate,  was  blowing  ;  complete  subject,  a  gentle  breeze;  com- 
plete predicate,  was  blowing  from  the  south.  From  the  south  is  an  adverbial 
phrase  modifying  '  was  blowing.'  A  and  gentle  are  adjectives  modifying  the 
noun  '  breeze.'  Was  blowing  is  a  verb-phrase.  From  is  a  preposition  intro- 
ducing the  phrase  *  from  the  south.'  The  is  an  adjective  limiting  the  noun 
« south.' 

i.  The  flowers  in  the  garden  are  blooming.  2.  The  papers  are  delivered  in 
the  evening.  3.  The  bushes  along  the  bank  are  green.  4.  Merchants  advertise 
in  newspapers.  5.  The  pebbles  in  the  brook  were  very  smooth.  6.  The  money 
was  deposited  in  the  bank.  7.  The  flowers  in  the  woods  are  fragrant.  8.  We 
walked  slowly  across  the  fields.  9.  The  house  by  the  river  was  swept  away  by 
the  flood.  10.  Farmers  work  hard  during  the  summer,  n.  The  dew  on  the 
grass  sparkled  in  the  sunlight.  12.  The  man  with  one  arm  was  drowned. 
13.  Too  many  men  are  guilty  of  embezzlement.  14.  Letters  of  recommendation 
will  be  helpful  to  you.  15.  A  large  number  of  boys  were  present  on  time 
16.  Snow  remains  on  some  high  mountains  throughout  the  summer.  17.  The 
history  of  words  is  an  interesting  study.  18.  Regular  hours  of  sleep  are  neces- 
sary to  health. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  17 

(a)  Adjectival  phrases  are  sometimes  used  as  a  part  of  the 
predicate  after  a  copula  verb  ;  as — 

John  is  of  a  quiet  disposition. 

In  this  sentence,  of  a  quiet  disposition  describes  John  as  truly  as  the  adjective 
'quiet'  does  in  'John  is  always  quiet.'  Therefore  of  a  quiet  disposition  is  a 
predicate-adjectival-phrase.  ( 16  b  and  342. ) 

( b )  Sometimes  the  copula  verb  is  followed  by  a  phrase  that 
does  not  describe  the  subject,  but  tells  where  the  person  or  thing 
isy  was,  or  will  be  ;  as — 

He  is  in  Europe.    The  key  was  under  the  mat.     I  shall  be  at  home. 

When  the  phrase  thus  answers  the  question  where  f  the  copula  verb  forms 
the  predicate  by  itself  and  the  phrase  is  an  adverbial  one. 

19.  That  man  is  in  earnest.  20.  The  boys  were  in  fun.  21.  The  pigs  are  in 
the  clover.  22.  The  cow  is  in  the  corn.  23.  I  am  in  doubt  about  it.  24.  The 
machine  is  of  little  use.  25.  The  top  was  of  brass.  26.  They  are  by  themselves. 
27.  The  bees  are  on  the  wing.  28.  It  will  be  in  a  bad  condition.  29.  We  were 
under  shelter.  30.  We  shall  be  under  obligations  to  you.  31.  The  cottage  is 
in  the  shade  of  a  large  oak. 

(  c )     Adverbial  phrases  often  come  at  the  first  of  the  sentence. 

[  See  rule  for  punctuating  such  sentences,  304.  ] 

32.  In  some  countries,  salt  is  very  valuable.  33.  In  the  meantime,  the  old 
homestead  had  been  sold  to  a  wealthy  planter.  34.  In  that  way,  the  whole 
fortune  was  spent.  35.  By  this  time,  we  could  see  quite  clearly.  36.  For  a  few 
minutes,  he  was  dazed  by  the  news.  37.  Near  the  lake,  a  beautiful  mansion  had 
been  built. 


LESSON  7. 
42.    Objective  Elements. — In  the  sentence — 

The  lightning  struck  the  tall  tree  in  the  park, 

tree  names  the  object  that  was  struck.     And  in  the  sentence — 

The  little  child  overturned  the  kettle  of  boiling  water, 

kettle  names  the   object,    or  thing  that  the  child  turned  over, 


18  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

Kettle  is  the  bare  ( or  unmodified )  object,  and  kettle  of  boiling 
water  is  the  complete  object. 

The  water  scalded  him. 

In  this  sentence,  him  is  the  object  telling  who  was  scalded. 
Again,  in  the  sentence — 

That  young  lady  has  a  handsome  watch, 

watch  is  the  object,  telling  what  the  young  lady  has,  or  possesses. 
When  a  noun  or  pronoun  is  used  after  a  verb  in  such  a  way  as 
to  answer  the  question  what?  (or  who?),  it  is  called  the  object 
of  the  verb.     (343  and  348. ) 

Notice  that  these  objects  follow  verbs  that  express  doing  or 
having ;  that  is,  action  or  possession, 

The  copula  verbs  (i6a)  do  not  express  action  or  possession, 
therefore  they  are  not  followed  by  objects,  though,  as  we  have 
seen  (17),  nouns  and  pronouns  are  sometimes  used  after  them  to 
complete  the  predicate. 

Remark. — Some  verbs  that  express  action  or  possession  do  not  always  have 
objects  after  them,  while  others  never  do.  We  shall  learn  more  about  this  at 
another  time.  ( 97  a  and  98. ) 

Turn  to  lyesson  i,  and  supply  modified  subjects  for  the  predicates 
in  paragraph  7  and  place  objects  after  as  many  of  the  verbs  as 
will  take  objects. 

4:3.  How  to  tell  the  Object.— When  you  are  in  doubt  as  to 
what  is  the  object  of  a  verb,  or  whether  it  has  an  object  at  all,  you 
may  easily  find  out  by  reading  the  predicate  and  putting  the 
question  what  f  ( or  who  ? )  after  it.  If  there  is  a  word  that 
will  answer  the  question,  that  word  is  the  object.  Thus,  in  the 
first  example  in  paragraph  42,  we  ask  "  struck  what?  "  Answer : 
"the  tree;"  and  in  the  second  example,  "  overturned  what?" 
Answer:  athe  kettle"— the  object. 

Remark. — Since  the  verb  is  always  limited  by  its  object,  consider  the  object 
and  its  modifiers  as  a  part  of  the  complete  predicate.  Thus,  in  the  first  ex- 
ample above,  the  complete  predicate  is  '  stritck  the  tall  tree  in  the  park.'  (343.) 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  19 

44.    Sentences  containing  objects  :     [Analyze  and  parse.] 

I.  The  sun  warms  the  earth.  2.  They  cheered  the  president.  3.  Whittier 
wrote  beautiful  poems.  4.  The  late  frost  killed  the  early  fruit.  5.  Dark  clouds 
cover  the  sky.  6.  I  have  the  lesson.  7.  George  has  a  fine  dog.  8.  You  have  a 
bad  cold.  9.  They  had  an  enjoyable  time.  10.  Ye  shall  have  peace. 

4:5.  The  principal  word  in  adjectival  and  adverbial  phrases 
will  answer  the  same  question  after  the  preposition  that  the 
object  of  a  verb  answers  after  the  predicate.  Thus,  in — 

The  firm  advertised  for  a  bookkeeper, 

we  may  ask  "  advertised  for  what  ?  "  Answer :  "  a  bookkeeper." 
And  in — 

He  wrote  a  long  letter  to  me  about  that  matter, 

if  we  ask  the  questions  "  wrote  to  whom  ? "  and  "  wrote  about 
what?"  the  answers  will  be  "  me"  and  "matter,"  the  objects  of 
to  and  about ;  while  the  question  "wrote  what?  "  brings  out  the 
object  of  the  .verb, — "  letter."  The  complete  object  is  a  long 
letter,  while  the  complete  predicate  is  wrote  a  long  letter  to  me 
about  that  matter. 

Point  out  the  objects  of  the  prepositions  in  the  sentences,  in, 
paragraph  41. 

4:6.  Direct  and  Indirect  Objects. — Verbs  of  action  often  liave 
two  objects ;  one  naming  the  thing  that  receives  the  action,  and 
the  other  naming  the  thing  indirectly  affected  by  it.  Thus,  in — • 

He  gave  me  a  book,  The  tailor  made  him  a  coat, 

the  meaning  is  not  '  He  gave  mej  and  *  The  tailor  made  him? 
but  'He  gave  a  book  [to]  me]  and  'The  tailor  made  a  coat 
[for]  him.  In  these  sentences,  book  and  coat  are  the  DIRECT 
OBJECTS,  and  me  and  him  the  INDIRECT  OBJECTS. 

Remark. — The  indirect  object  of  a  verb  conies  before  the  direct  object,  and 
its  relation  to  the  verb  may  be  expressed  by  to  or  for.  When,  however,  we 
supply  to  or  for  before  the  indirect  object,  the  phrase  thus  formed  follows  the 
direct  object,  and  the  indirect  object  of  the  verb  becomes  the"  object  of  the 


20  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

preposition.       To  illustrate  this,  take  the  two  forms  of  the  second  example  in 
paragraph  45: 

He  wrote  me  a  long  letter  about  that  matter. 

He  wrote  a  long  letter  to  me  about  that  matter. 

4:7.  Point  out  the  direct  and  indirect  objects  of  the  verbs  in 
the  following  sentences,  and  then  change  the  indirect  object  into 
a  phrase,  so  that  it  will  become  the  object  of  to  or  for  : 

The  clerk  sold  her  the  goods.  The  proprietor  showed  us  the  letter. 

The  captain  told  them  a  big  yarn.        His  friends  bought  him  a  gold  watch. 

The  careless  druggist  gave  the  poor  fellow  the  wrong  medicine. 

The  railway  company  gave  all  the  conductors  very  strict  orders. 

The  government  had  been  furnishing  the  Indians  food  and  clothing. 

4:8.  The  objective  element  answers  the  question  what?  (or 
who?)  after  a  verb  expressing  action  or  possession.  It  also 
answers  the  question  what?  (or  whom?)  after  prepositions.  (348.) 

The  indirect  object  of  a  verb  of  action  names  the  person  or  thing  to  (or  for) 
which  the  act  is  done. 


LESSON  8. 

FORMS  OF  ELEMENTS. 

49.  We  have  seen  that  an  element  of  a  sentence  may  be 
either  a  word  or  a  phrase.  (34^.) 

We  shall  see  farther  on  that  a  clause  (which  is  nearly  the  same 
as  a  sentence )  may  be  used  as  an  element.  ( in  a. ) 

An  element  consisting  of  a  word  is  a  word  element. 
An  element  consisting  of  a  phrase  is  a  phrase  element. 
An  element  consisting  of  a  clause  is  a  clause  element. 

A  word,  phrase,  or  clause  element  that  has  no  modifiers  is 
called  a  simple  element ;  but  when  it  has  modifiers,  it  is  called  a 
complex  element. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  21 

Two  or  more  elements  of  the  same  kind  may  be  joined  together 
by  conjunctions ;  thus — 

Checks  and  drafts  are  cashed.      He  drinks  neither  tea  nor  coffee. 

You  may  ride  or  walk.  She  teaches  shorthand  and  typewriting. 

The  boys  and  girls  play  in  the  house  and  on  the  lawn. 

Payment  in  gold  or  bank-notes  was  demanded  but  refused. 

When  two  or  more  word  or  phrase  elements  of  the  same  kind 
are  connected  in  this  way,  they  form  what  is  called  a  compound 
element;  and  the  word  (a  conjunction)  that  connects  them  is  a 
connecting  element. 

Remark. — Besides  conjunctions,  there  are  other  connecting  elements  which 
we  shall  learn  about  at  another  time.  ( 356. ) 

50.  Simple   and    Compound   Sentences. — So    far,    we    have 
studied  sentences  that  make  but  one  statement,  or  assertion ;  as — 

They  all  went  to  the  picnic.     I  stayed  at  home  and  worked. 
Charles  works  in  a  factory.     Henry  is  employed  in  an  office. 

Such  sentences  are  called  SIMPLE.  They  contain  but  one  sub- 
ject and  one  predicate  each.  But  we  frequently  unite  two  such 
statements  into  one  sentence  by  using  a  conjunction ;  thus — 

They  all  went  to  the  picnic,  but  I  stayed  at  home  and  worked. 
Charles  works  in  a  factory,  and  Henry  is  employed  in  an  office. 
You  must  do  your  work  better,  or  we  shall  discharge  you. 

(a)  When  two  or  more  simple  sentences  are  connected  in  this 
way,  they  form  what  is  called  a  COMPOUND  SENTENCE. 

51.  Point  out  the  compound  elements,  the  connecting  elements, 
and  the  compound  sentences  in  the  following : 

i.  Silver  and  gold  are  precious  metals.  2.  The  merry  children  laugh  and 
play.  3.  Spelling  and  arithmetic  are  practical  studies.  4.  Reading  and  writing 
should  be  learned  in  youth.  5.  Greek  and  Latin  are  dead  languages.  6.  Those 
apples  are  mellow  and  sweet.  7.  That  flower  is  beautiful  but  not  fragrant. 
8.  They  came  and  went  in  a  hurry.  9.  They  destroyed  the  town  with  shot  and 
shell.  10.  In  this  country,  the  sons  of  the  rich  and  poor  are  educated  together. 
ii.  "Genuine  politeness  comes  only  by  a  union  of  inward  grace  and  outward 
culture."  12.  A  beaver  can  live  on  land  or  in  the  water. 

Remark. — Sometimes  a  part  or  all  of  the  conjunctions  are  omitted.     [  For  the 


22  PLAIN 

punctuation  in  such  cases,  see  Rule  2  for  use  of  comma,  paragraph  303,  £,  c,  d. 
also,  rule  for  semicolon,  3i23. 1 

13.  They  wash,  iron,  cook,  eat,  and  sleep  in  the  same  room.  14.  Wheat,  corn, 
and  oats  are  raised  in  this  country,  in  India,  and  in  Europe.  15.  He  went  to 
school  and  I  stayed  at  home.  16.  They  came  but  the  work  was  finished.  17.  The 
morning  stars  sang  together  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy. 

18.  We  silently  gazed  on  the  face  of  the  dead, 
And  we  bitterly  thought  of  the  morrow. 

19.  The  way  was  long ;  the  wind  was  cold ; 
The  minstrel  was  infirm  and  old. 

20.  Great  Nature  spoke ;  observant  man  obeyed ; 
Cities  were  formed  ;  societies  were  made. 

21.  War  and  love  are  strange  compeers. 
War  sheds  blood,  and  love  sheds  tears 
War  has  swords,  and  love  has  darts ; 
War  breaks  heads,  and  love  breaks  hearts. 

Note  to  Teacher. — For  further  work  in  analyzing  compound  elements,  use 
the  first  ten  sentences  given  for  practice  under  Rule  2  for  the  comma,  303. 


LESSON   9. 

ORDER  OF  ELEMENTS. 

52.    In  the  English  language,  the  usual  order  of  the  leading 
elements  in  a  sentence  is — 

SUBJECT,    PREDICATE,    OBJECT;   thus— 

Girls  like  music. 

Remark. — This  order  of  elements  is  called  the  NATURAL,  or  I,OGICAI,  order. 
( Logical,  means  ' according  to  sense,  or  reason.') 

(a)     Adjectives  usually  stand  before  the  nouns  they  modify ; 
thus— 

The  boys  generally  like  mental  arithmetic. 

adi.         n.  adv.  v.          adj.  n. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  23 

( b )  Adverbs  may  be  placed  either  before  or  after  the  verbs 
they  modify ;  thus — 

The  old  man  then  spoke  kindly    to    the  little  child. 

adj.     adj.       n.         adv.          v.  adv.          prep.    adj.      adj.  n. 

(c)  When  adverbs  modify  adjectives  or  other  adverbs,  they 
are  placed  before^them  (344) ;  thus — 

She  could  read  and  write  quite  well  for   one   so   young. 

pro.         v.-phrase  c.  v.  adv.       adv.  prep.     pro.    adv.         adj. 

The   business  affairs   of   some  men  do   not,    at    this   season, 

adj.  adj.  n.         prep.       adj.          n.         v.       adv.     prep.     adj.  n. 

allow  them  very    many   opportunities  for  rest  or  pleasure. 

v.  pro.         adv.  adj.  n.  prep.        n.       c.  n. 

Notice  that  the  adverb  'not,'  and  the  phrase  '  at  this  season,'  come  between 
the  two  parts  of  the  predicate  '  do  allow,'  in  the  last  sentence. 

(d)  Adjectival   and   adverbial  phrases   naturally  follow  the 
words  they  limit,  as  shown  in  the  sentences  above. 

53.  The  logical  order  of  the  elements  in  a  sentence  is  by  no  means  strictly 
adhered  to.     Indeed,  our  language  is  so  flexible  that  we  may  express  the  same 
thought  in  different  ways  by  changing  the  order  of  the  elements,  especially  the 
subordinate  elements.    However,  in  the  assertive  sentence  (which  is  the  only 
kind  we  have  considered  so  far),  the  leading  elements,  subject,  predicate,  and 
object,  usually  come  in  that  order. 

54.  Rewrite  the  following  sentences,  placing  the  elements  in 
their  logical  order : 

i.  A  mighty  man  was  he.  2.  Uneasy  lies  his  head.  3.  Blessed  are  the  pure 
in  heart.  4.  Swiftly  fly  the  twilight  hours.  5.  A  prettier  scene  you  never  saw. 
6.  A  jolly  old  soul  was  he.  7.  A  lovelier  flower  on  earth  was  never  seen. 
8.  Down  swept  the  chill  wind  from  the  north.  9.  Slow  and  sure  comes  up  the 
golden  year.  10.  Beneath  the  arched  gateway,  stood  a  single  sentinel. 
n.  Silently  and  sadly  fell  the  autumn  leaves.  12.  Seaward  still  flows  the  brook, 
clear  and  sparkling.  13.  Louder  and  still  louder  thundered  the  tempest. 
14.  Between  Nose  and  Byes,  arose  a  strange  contest.  15.  Against  the  wall  leans 
the  peach  tree,  and  over  all  wanders  the  woodbine. 

1 6.  There,  in  the  midst  of  its  farms,  reposed  the  Acadian  village. 

Strongly  built  were  the  houses,  with  frames  of  oak  and  of  hemlock. 

jy.  Floated  the  boat,  with  its  dripping  oars  on  the  motionless  water. 

Filled  was  Evangeline's  heart  with  inexpressible  sweetness.  ( 135,  Note. ) 


21  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

18.  Still  stands  the  forest  primeval ;  but  under  the  shade  of  its  branches 
Dwells  another  race,  with  other  customs  and  language. 

19.  —  the  woods  against  a  stormy  sky, 
Their  giant  branches  tossed. 

20.  Now  on  the  place  of  slaughter, 
Are  cots  and  sheepfolds  seen. 

21.  By  the  flow  of  the  inland  river, 
Asleep  are  the  ranks  of  the  dead. 

22.  Now  fades  the  glimmering  landscape  on  the  sight, 
And  all  the  air  a  solemn  stillness  holds. 

23.  Filled  with  awe  was  Hiawatha 
At  the  aspect  of  his  father. 
On  the  air  about  him  wildly 

Tossed  and  streamed  his  cloudy  tresses. 

To  the  Student. — When  the  sentences  above  have  been  rearranged,  indi- 
cate the  elements  in  the  following  manner :  * 

Draw  heavy  lines  under  the  subject,  predicate,  and  object. 
Draw  a  light  line  under  each  phrase  beginning  with  a  preposition. 
Make  a  dotted  line  under  the  connecting  elements. 

MODEL.    He  preached  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  and  He^  healed  the  sick  and  fed 
the  hungry.     (79^.) 

Note. — When  a  conjunction  is  omitted,  it  may  be  supplied  in  brackets ;  thus — 

The  wave  was  clear,  [and]  the  beach  was  bright 
With  snowy  shells  and  sparkling  stones. 


*Xo  tlie  Teacher. — This  marking  of  the  elements  is  not  given  here  as  a  system  of 
diagraming.  You  will  notice  that  the  adjectives  and  adverbs  are  not  indicated.  For  beginners, 
at  least,  marking  the  leading  elements  (including  phrases  entire)  is  better  than  a  complex 
system  that  goes  into  detail.  Too  often  the  latter  becomes  mere  guess-work  with  the  student, 
causing  him  to  lose  sight  of  the  real  object  of  analysis — dissection  of  the  thought  expressed. 

Transposing  inverted  sentences  by  placing  their  elements  in  logical  order,  is  an  exer- 
cise that  may,  with  profit,  be  extended.  It  trains  the  student  to  see  the  leading  elements 
at  a  glance,  and  to  grasp  at  once  the  thought  of  the  sentence, — a  matter  of  paramount  impor- 
tance aside  from  its  syntactical  bearing.  But  the  real  benefit  of  this  exercise  cannot  be  real- 
ized by  practicing  with  detached  sentences  or  single  couplets.  Conger  selections,  in  which 
there  is  a  thread  of  thought  running  through  several  verses,  are  more  profitable.  Longfellow's 
"  Evangeline,"  and  "  Hiawatha  "  contain  many  excellent  passages  for  this  work. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH,  25 

LESSON  1O. 

KINDS  OF  SENTENCES. 

55.  Besides  the  assertive  sentence  (the  kind  used  to  make 
assertions,  or  simple   statements),  there  are  three  other  kinds; 
namely,  interrogative,  imperative,  and  exclamatory.     The  ways  in 
which  these  sentences  differ  from  the   assertive   sentence,  and 
from  each  other,  are  as  follows : 

56.  Interrogative  Sentence. — This    is    the    question-asking 
sentence  (inter-  'between;'  rogare,  '  to  ask,'),  and  the  way  in 
which  its  arrangement  differs  from  the  assertive  sentence  is  that 
the  predicate,  at  least  a  part  of  it,  usually  conies  before  the  sub- 
ject; thus — 

Can  the  boy  write  ?     Has  she  a  home  ? 
Did  they  go  ?    How  soon  will  he  arrive  ? 

(  a )  In  pointing  out  the  principal  elements  of  such  sentences, 
consider  them  as  being  assertive  answers  to  themselves  ;  thus — 

The  boy  can  write.     She  has  a  home. 
They  did  go.     He  will  arrive  soon. 

Remark. — In  sentences  like  the  last  one,  the  interrogative  word  (such  as,  how,  why,  where, 
when,}  is  not  used  in  the  answer  ;  it  should  be  parsed  as  an  interrogative  adverb.  ( 105.) 

( b )  Three  words  frequently  used  in  asking  questions  are  who, 
which,  and  what.  These  words  are  sometimes  the  subjects  of 
interrogative  sentences,  and  sometimes  the  objects.  When  a 
sentence  beginning  with  either  of  them  cannot  be  changed  into 
an  assertive  answer,  by  using  the  same  words  and  no  others,  the 
who,  which,  or  what  is  the  subject ;  as — 

Who  bought  it  ?    Which  was  there  ?     What  ails  you  ? 

But  when  the  sentence  beginning  with  either  of  these  words 
can  be  changed  into  the  assertive  form  and  make  sense  without 
using  other  words,  the  who,  which,  or  what  is  not  the  subject ;  as — 

Which  do  you  prefer?    What  were  they  hunting? 
For  whom  did  you  ask  ? 

Examples :    You  do  prefer  which  f    You  did  ask  for  whom  f    [  See  348  a. } 


26  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

57.  Imperative  Sentence. — This  is  the  kind  of  sentence  used 
when  we  wish  to  command    or  make  a   request.      The  peculiar 
thing  about  it  is  that  the  subject  is  always  omitted  but  is  under- 
stood to  be  yoii  ( the  person  spoken  to  ) ;  thus — 

[You]  '  Bring  me  the  book.'     [You]  '  Please  shut  the  door.' 

In  such  commands  as — 

"  Go,"  "  Forward,  inarch,"  "  Charge  for  the  guns,"  he  said, 

the  real  meaning  is — 

'  [You]  go,'  '  [You]  march  forward,'  He  said,  '  [You]  charge  for  the  guiis.' 

In  analyzing  imperative  sentences,  say  merely  that  '  the  subject 
is  you,  understood]  or  that  'the  subject  is  not  expressed? 

[  For  the  punctuation  of  assertive  and  imperative  sentences,  see  paragraph  314.] 

58.  We  have  seen  that  words  denoting  strong  feeling  are  not 
*  parts  of  speech,'  being  simply  interjections.    (31 ;  also  340.)    These 
exclamations  may  include  several  words ;  as — 

O  !  Absalom,  my  son,  my  son  !     Bternity!  Oh  how  long! 

But  such  expressions  are  not  sentences,  since  they  do  not  con- 
tain a  verb.  However,  whole  sentences  may  be  used  in  an  ex- 
clamatory way  to  denote  strong  feeling  of  some  kind ;  as — 

O  could  I  speak  His  matchless  worth  ! 
Oh,  if  I  could  but  live  my  life  over  again  ! 

Remarks. — These  exclamatory  sentences,  when  taken  with  their  connections, 
are  found  to  be  subordinate  sentences  [  clauses]  of  condition.  ( 188. ) 

(a)  The  exclamatory  sentence  sometimes  has  the  interrogative  form  to  ex- 
press strong  feeling,  without  any  expectation  of  an  answer ;  as — 

How  could  he  act  so !     Who  could  have  thought  such  a  thing ! 

(b)  Assertive  sentences  are  sometimes  made  exclamatory  in  utterance,  the 
order  of  elements  remaining  unchanged ;  thus — 

As  it  I  could  be  guilty  of  such  a  thing! 
And  that  man  talks  of  virtue ! 

(c)  Imperative  sentences  or  expressions   are   often   exclamatory  in    their 
utterance.    When  written,  they  are  followed  by  the  sign  of  exclamation  ;  thus- 
Forward!     Charge  for  the  guns  !     Don't  give  up  the  ship  ! 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  27 

LESSON   11. 

WORD-MAKING. 

Note  to  Teacher.— -This  lesson  is  put  here,  chiefly  for  reference  purposes 
in  connection  with  subsequent  work.  It  may  be  taken  part  at  a  time,  along 
with  future  lessons,  as  indicated  in  paragraph  79  b. 

59.  We  get  the  words  in  our  language  from  two  sources ;  or, 
in  other  words,  they  are  of  two  kinds  ;  namely — 

Those  that  originated  with  or  in  the  language. 
Those  that  have  been  borrowed  from  other  languages. 

The  first  kind  are  called  Anglo-Saxon  (pure  English)  words; 
the  others  are  called  foreign  words.  Both  foreign  and  English 
words  are  divided  into  three  classes :  SIMPLE,  DERIVATIVE,  and 
COMPOUND. 

Remark. — These  three  classes  have  reference  to  the  forms  of  words  and  not 
to  the  parts  of  speech  to  which  they  belong. 

60.  Simple  Words  are  those  that  are  not  made  from  ( or  out 
of)  other  words,  such  as  do,  kind,  seven,  home,  bear,  zvill. 

( Simple  words  are  also  called  "root,"  "primitive,"  or  " radical  "  words.) 

61.  Derirative  Words  are  those  that  are  derived  from  other 
words  by  the  use  of  prefixes  and  suffixes,  as,  ado,  unkind,  seventy^ 
homely,  unbearable,  unwilling. 

A  prefix  is  a  syllable  placed  before  a  word;  as,  ado,  wwkind. 

A  suffix  is  a  letter  or  syllable  placed  at  the  end  of  a  word;  as,  home/y, 
seventy.  Prefixes  and  suffixes  are  called  affixes. 

Sometimes  a  prefix  and  suffix  are  both  added  to  a  word ;  as,  unw\\\ing, 
unbearable,  unkindness. 

62.  Compound  Words  are   those   that  are  made  by  uniting 
two  or  more  words  into   one ;    as,  penholder,  mankind,  railway, 
bookkeeper,  runaway,  wood-box,  Anglo-Saxon. 

63.  One   peculiarity   about  derivative  and  compound  words  is  that   they 
may,  and  generally  do,  belong  to  a  different  part-of-speech  from  the  word  or 
words    out  of  which  they  are  made.     Thus  the  adjective  '  truthful '  is  derived 


28  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

from  the  noun  '  truth/  and  by  the  addition  of  another  suffix  we  change  it  from 
an  adjective  back  to  a  noun, — truthfulness.  The  noun  '  runaway '  is  composed 
of  the  verb  run  and  the  adverb  away ;  the  adverb  'away*  is  composed  of  the 
adjective  a  and  the  noun  way. 

Adding  prefixes  and  suffixes  to  words  to  form  derivatives ,  or  putting  words 
together  to  form  compound  words  is  called  composition,  or  word-making. 
Many  of  our  words  in  common  use  were  obtained  in  this  way  and  it  will  be 
interesting  to  notice  how  different  parts  of  speech  have  thus  been  made. 

64.  Nouns.— DERIVATIVE  NOUNS  are  formed — 

1.  By  suffixes  to  adjectives,  themselves  either  simple  or  derivative ;  as,  sick- 
ness, happiness,  eagerness,  sadness,  security,  reality. 

2.  By  suffixes  to  simple  nouns ;  as,  heroism,  skepticism,  Americanism,  agri- 
culturist, geologist,  conversationist. 

Note. — In  this  way,  a  few  nouns  are  formed  to  denote  female  sex ;  as  heroine, 
countess.  In  the  same % manner  we  form  nouns  denoting  small  things;  as, 
seedling,  duckling,  gosling,  booklet,  leaflet. 

3.  By  prefixes  to  other   nouns;  as,  disadvantage,  inability,   nonsense,   un- 
certainty, ex-governor. 

4.  By  suffixes  to  verbs ;  as,  writer,  swimmer,  flattery,  impeachment. 

Note. — From  verbs  are  derived  (by  the  addition  of  the  suffix  ing)  a  class  of 
words  used  as  the  names  of  actions;  as,  singing,  dancing,  writing,  printing. 
As  will  be  seen  hereafter,  these  words  are  not  always  pure  nouns,  being  some- 
times nouns  with  verbal  natures.  ( 164.) 

Furnish  nouns  belonging  to  each  of  the  above-mentioned  classes. 

65.  COMPOUND  NOUNS  are  made — 

1.  By  putting  together  two  or  more  simple  or  derivative  nouns ;  as,  crow-bar, 
postman,  sidewalk,  cash-boy,  hand-organ,  foot-ball. 

2.  By  prefixing  an  adjective  to  a  noun  which  it  describes;  as,  bluebell,  white- 
face,  midnight,  mainsail,  red-man. 

3.  By  suffixing  a  noun  to  a  verb  ;  as,  driveway,  feed-box,  pickpocket. 

4.  By  suffixing  the  adjective  full  (dropping  the  last  /)  to  nouns;  as. handful, 
spoonful,  basketful.     (  360  d. ) 

5.  By  prefixing  a  preposition  to  a  noun  or  verb;  as,  outskirts,  output,  in- 
come, forethought,  forerunner,  overcomer. 

6.  By  prefixing  a  noun  or  a  participle  to  a  noun,  the  latter  being  described 
by  the  former;  as,  seashore,  housetop,  sewing-machine,  carving-knife. 

7.  Phrases  consisting  of  two  or  more  nouns  used  as  the  name  of  a  single 
person  or  thing  are  considered  as  one  word.     Examples :    Abraham  Lincoln, 
James  A.  Garfield,  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.     Sometimes  three  or  more  words  of 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  29 

various  parts  of  speech  are  united  and  used  as  one  noun  ;  thus,  father-in-law ', 
Stratford-on-Avon,  Mary  Queen  oj  Scots,  Alexander  the  Great.     (211.) 

Furnish  compound  nouns  belonging  to  each  of  these  classes. 

[  For  instruction  in  the  use  of  the  hyphen  in  compound  words,  see  319.] 

66.  Pronouns. — In  this  part-of-speech,  we  have  only  simple 
and  compound  words — no  derivatives. 

(a)  SIMPLE  PRONOUNS  are  /,  we,  you,  he,  she,  it,  and  they,  and  none,  aught, 
naught,  some,  any,  one,  all,  and  each.  The  first  seven  of  these  are  called  personal 
pronouns  (80)  ;  the  others  are  called  indefinites  (83). 

(o)  It  is  true  that  there  are  other  forms  of  these  simple  personal  pronouns, 
such  as  me,  us,  his,  him,  her,  them,  etc. ;  but  while"  these  forms  are,  in  part  ( some 
of  them  are  not),  made  from  the  simple  forms  given  above,  the  change  in  form 
is  for  another  purpose,  and  not  to  compose  new  words.  ( 141  and  143.) 

67.  COMPOUND  PRONOUNS  are  made — 

1.  By  combining  the  personal  pronouns  with  the  noun  self  ( or  selves) ;  thus, 
myself,  himself,  herself,  yourself,  themselves,  and  ourselves. 

2.  By  prefixing  the  indefinite  adjectives  some,  any,  every,  and  no,  to  one, 
thing,  and  body  ;  as,  someone,  something,  somebody,  anyone,  anything.    ( 144  b. ) 

3.  Phrases. — There  are  two  pronoun  phrases ;  each  other  and  one  another. 

Write  all  the  compound  pronouns  you  can  make  with  the  words 
given  above. 

68.  Adjectives. — DERIVATIVE  ADJECTIVES  are  formed — 

1.  By  suffixes  to   nouns,  as  follows:   handy,  manly,  useful,  bridal,  boyish, 
nervous,  careless,  heroic,  reasonable,  delightsome,  earthen,   forked,  parental, 
commercial. 

2.  By   suffixes  to  verbs;  as,  movable,  desirable,   active,   talkative,   written, 
broken,  defeated,  bowed,  sparkling,  singing. 

Note. — The  last  six  belong  to  a  class  of  words  that  are  not  regarded  as  pure 
adjectives  except  when  they  are  placed  immediately  before  the  noun  they 
qualify.  ( 87  b  and  170. ) 

3.  By  suffixes  to  other  adjectives ;  as,  later,  latest,  warmer,  warmest,  greenish, 
cleanly,  gladsome. 

Note. — The  first  four  of  these  words  are,  in  fact,  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
comparison,  and  not  to  make  new  words.  (  145-6. ) 

4.  By  prefixes  to  other  adjectives;  as,  unhandy,  immovable,  impure. 

Furnish  adjectives  belonging  to  the  above-mentioned  classes. 


SO  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

69.  COMPOUND  ADJECTIVES  are  made  by  putting  together  two 
or  more  words  of  different  parts  of  speech,  as  follows  : 

1.  A  noun  and  an  adjective ,    as,  sea-sick,  foot-sore,  knee-deep,  sky-blue. 

2.  A  noun  and  a  verb  ;  as,  moss-covered,  snow-capped,  star-spangled. 

3.  An  adjective  and  a  noun,  the  latter  having  ed  as  an  adjective  suffix ;  as, 
hard-hearted,  high-toned,  light-fingered,  old-fashioned. 

4.  An  adjective  and  a  verb;  as,  new-born,  well-fed,  slow-going. 

5.  An  adverb  and  a  verb  or  an  adjective ;  as,  everlasting,  never-ending,  over- 
anxious, full-grown,  full-blown. 

6.  Phrases  consisting  of  three  or  more  words  are  sometimes  used  as  a  single 
adjective  ;  thus,  a  happy- go-lucky  fellow,  a  go-as-you-please  style. 

The  article  a  ( from  an )  is  used  with  many,  such,  what,  quite,  and  few,  to  form 
adjective-phrases ,  thus,  many  a,  such  a,  what  a,  quite  a,  and  a  few.  It  is  also 
used  before  '  great  many  ; '  as,  A  great  many  people  were  there. 

Furnish  adjectives  belonging  to  each  of  these  classes. 

70.  Verbs.— DERIVATIVE  VERBS  are  formed  as  follows  : 

1.  By  prefixes:    (a)  To  other  verbs ;  as,  unwrap,  bemoan,  disown,  rewrite, 
enclose,     (d)  To  nouns  ,  as,  embalm, enthrone,  enjoy,  disorder, behead,    (c)  To 
adjectives ;  as,  belate,  renew,  refresh. 

2.  By  suffixes:    (a)  To  adjectives  ;  as,  purify,  nullify,  lighten,  soften,    (b)  To 
nouns ;  as,  frighten,  terrorize,  journalize,  memorize. 

3.  By  both  prefixes  and  suffixes;   as,  dishearten,  enlighten,  unfasten. 

4.  By  changes  in  the  ending  of  nouns  and  adjectives  ;  as,  qualify,  electrify, 
beautify,  horrify. 

Note.— Some  verbs  are  derived  from  others  by  change  of  form  ,  as,  sang  from 
sing,  wrote  from  write,  came  from  come,  talked  from  talk,  beaten  from  beat.  But 
as  this  change  in  the  form  of  the  verb  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  new 
word,  it  does  not  really  belong  to  composition.  ( 162  *.) 


71.    COMPOUND  VERBS  are  made — 

1.  By  prefixing  a  preposition  to  a  verb,  the 
use ;  as,  oversee,  uplift,  withdraw,  outshine, 

2.  By  prefixing  a  noun  to  a  verb ;  as,  browbeat,  water-soak,  case-harden. 


I.    By  prefixing  a  preposition  to  a  verb,  the  preposition  having  an  adverbial 
sense ;  as,  oversee,  uplift,  withdraw,  outshine,  foretell. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  31 

Note  i. — Many  nouns  are  used  as  verbs,  the  verbal  use  signifying  what  is  done 
by  or  with  the  thing  named  when  the  word  is  a  noun  ;  as,  to  pen  a  letter,  to  hand 
a  book,  to  express  a  package,  to  mail  a  letter,  to  people  a  country,  to  tree  a  coon, 
to  roof  a  house,  to  snowball  a  person,  to  copyright  an  article. 

Note  2. — Phrases  consisting  of  two  or  more  verbs  are  not  compound  verbs, 
though  they  are  usually  parsed  as  one  word.  ( 10. ) 

Furnish  verbs  belonging  to  each  of  the  above-mentioned  classes. 

72.  Adverbs.— DERIVATIVE  ADVERBS  are  formed  in  the  fol- 
lowing ways : 

1.  By  suffixes  to  adjectives,   chiefly  the   suffix  ly ;  as,  dearly,  fully,  rarely, 
honestly. 

2.  By  changing  the  adjective  suffix,  ble  to  bly  ;  as,  ably,  nobly,  feebly;  ic  is 
changed  to  ical  before  adding  ly  ;  as,  heroically,  frantically. 

3.  By   the   suffix  ward,  added  to  nouns  and  prepositions;  thus,  skyward, 
homeward,  forward,  toward,  upward.     (See  2781.) 

4.  By  adding  to  adjectives  or  nouns  :     (a)    The  prefix  a  (from  on)  ;  as,  anew, 
afresh,   ahead,   afoot,   a-fishing.      (b)     The  prefix   be    (from   by);   as,   beside, 
beyond. 

Furnish  adverbs  belonging  to  the  above-mentioned  classes. 

73.  COMPOUND  ADVERBS  are  made  by  union  of  two  or  more 
parts  of  speech,  the  more  common  being — 

1.  An  adjective  and  a  noun  ;  as,  always,  sometime,  otherwise. 

2.  An  adjective  and  an  adjective  ;  as,  almost,  already. 

3.  An  adverb  and  an  adverb  ;  as,  henceforward,  henceforth. 

4.  An  adverb  and  a.  preposition  ;  as,  herewith,  nerein,  wherefore. 

5.  A  preposition  and  an  adverb  ;  as,  forever,  perhaps. 

6.  A  preposition  and  a  noun  ;  as,  overhead,  underside,  outside. 

7.  Phrases,  consisting  of  a  preposition  followed  by  an  adjective,  serve  the 
purpose  of  single  adverbs  ;  as,  in  vain,  of  late,  at  last,  for  good. 

Furnish  adverbs  belonging  to  the  above-mentioned  classes. 

74.  Prepositions.— DERIVATIVE  PREPOSITIONS  are  formed — 

1.  From  verbs  ;  as,  during,  concerning,  excepting,  respecting. 

2.  By  prefixing  a  to  other  parts  of  speech,  chiefly  nouns  and  adjectives ;  as, 
along,  around,  aslant,  aboard. 

Remark. — Strictly  speaking,  these  are  compound  prepositions,  as  the  prefix 
a  is  from  the  preposition  on. 


32  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

75.  COMPOUND  PREPOSITIONS  are  made — 

1.  By  uniting  two  prepositions  ;  as,  into,  upon,  within,  throughout. 

2.  By  uniting  a  preposition  and  some  other  part-of-speech,  usually  a  noun 
or  an  adjective  ;  as,  beside,  below,  between. 

3.  Phrases,  consisting  of  two  or  more  prepositions,  are  often  used  with  the 
value  of  a  single  preposition.     Examples:     From  over,  from  under ,  because  of . 

Furnish  prepositions  and  preposition-phrases,  as  above. 

76.  CODJ unctions. — As  regards  composition,  conjunctions  are  not  easily 
classified.     They  are  much  like  the  derivative  and  compound  adverbs,  many  of 
which  are  used  conjunctively      [See  no  a  and  Note ;  also  113.] 

( a )     Phrases,  consisting  of  two  or  more  words,  are  used  as  conjunctions  with 
an  adverbial  sense.    They  are  such  as,  except  that,  in  order  that,  inasmuch  as. 


LESSON  12. 

KINDS  OF  NOUNS. 

77.  In  previous  lessons,  we  have  been  analyzing  sentences  and 
classifying  words  according  to  what  they  do.  We  have  found 
that  there  are  eight  classes  of  words,  as  follows : 

1.  Nouns. — Words  that  name  things.     (4  a.) 

2.  Pronouns. — Words  that  mention  things  without  naming  them.     ( u.l 

3.  Adjectives. — Words  that  limit  or  qualify  nouns  and  pronouns.     ( 15.) 

4.  Verbs. — Words  that  assert  existence,  action,  or  possession.     (4  b,  332. ) 

5.  Adverbs. — Words  that  modify  verbs,  adjectives,  and  adverbs.     ( 20. ) 

6.  Prepositions. — Words  placed  before  nouns  and  pronouns  to  form  ad- 
jectival and  adverbial  phrases.     (  26-7. ) 

7.  Conjunctions. — Words  that  join  words,  phrases,  and  sentences.     (29.) 

8.  Independent  words,  consisting  of  interjections  and  a  few  words  used 
merely  to  introduce  sentences.     (31.  Note.) 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  33 

78.  So  far,  we  have  been  calling  all  names  simply  nouns.  All 
words  used  as  substitutes  for  names  we  have  called  pronouns.  All 
asserting  words  we  have  classed  as  verbs.  But  now  we  shall  see 
there  are  different  kinds  of  nouns,  different  kinds  of  pronouns, 
different  kinds  of  verbs,  and  so  on  with  all  the  parts  of  speech 
except  the  preposition.  In  the  sentence — 

'  Henry  is  the  smallest  boy  in  school,' 

we  have  two  nouns  referring  to  the  same  person,  ( Henry] — '  boy] 
but  you  can  see  they  are  different  kinds  of  names.  The  word 
4  boy '  is  a  name  that  may  be  applied  to  each  of  the  boys  in  school, 
while  the  other  name  does  not  belong  to  anyone  but  Henry ;  it  is 
properly  his  own  name.  In  the  sentence,  '  New  York  is  a  large 
city.'  The  name,  *  New  York,'  is  the  proper,  or  particular  name 
of  a  certain  city,  while  the  word  '  city  '  is  a  name  that  may  be 
applied  to  other  places  besides  New  York.  So,  in  the  sentences — 

Dr.  Wilson  is  a  noted  physician,  Pike's  Peak  is  a  high  mountain, 

The  Mississippi  is  a  long  river,  Texas  is  a  large  state, 

February  is  the  shortest  month, 

the  names,  Dr.  Wilson,  Mississippi,  Texas,  Pike's  Peak,  and 
February  are  said  to  be  proper  nouns,  for  the  reason  that  they 
are  names  that  belong  only  to  those  persons  or  objects.  In  these 
sentences,  the  words  c  physician,'  '  river,'  '  mountain,'  '  state,'  and 

*  month  '  are  names  that  may  be  applied  to  each  one  of  a  class  of 
objects ;  hence,  they  are  called  common  nouns.     (Common  means 

*  applying,  or  belonging  to  many.') 

Write  the  following  names  in  two  columns,  one  headed  PROPER 
NOUNS,  the  Other,  COMMON  NOUNS  :  [  See  Rule  5  for  capitals,  323.  ] 

george,  man,  apple,  horse,  columbus,  ohio,  January,  town,  atlantic,  month, 
lizzie,  james,  niagara,  canal,  england,  country,  ocean,  indian,  rocky  mountains, 
city,  detroit,  charles,  son,  school,  people,  german,  hat,  language,  paris,  Septem- 
ber, day,  friday,  dog,  rover,  Chicago,  wealth,  money,  doctor,  henry,  paper, 
John  smith,  tribune,  flower,  harper's  ferry. 

Write  ten  proper  nouns  from  memory  and  twenty  common 
nouns,  names  of  things  in  or  about  the  school-room. 


84  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

79.  A  great  many  of  our  common  nouns  are  names  of  things  that  we  can- 
not see  or  handle ;  such  as,  truth,  pleasure,  noise,  perfume,  flavor,  knowledge, 
size.  Others  are  the  names  of  actions  or  deeds  ,  as,  singing,  talking,  fishing. 

Examples  :     Crying  will  not  help  the  matter.    Fishing  is  fine  sport. 

(a)  Still  other  common  nouns  are  the  names  of  qualities,  feelings,  etc.  ;  as, 
sweetness,  happiness,  shrewdness,  auger,  strength,  beauty,  honesty.  These 
nouns  are  usually  formed  from  adjectives  (641)  and  are  called  ABSTRACT 
NOUNS.  Form  such  nouns  from  the  following  words  : 

Soft,  harsh,  rough,  smooth,  cruel,  brave,  humble,  severe,  able,  responsible, 
hasty,  heavy,  sour,  sharp,  glad,  righteous,  willing,  broad,  deep,  high,  long. 

(o)  Furnish  nouns  like  those  in  classes  2,  3,  and  4,  in  paragraph  64 ;  also 
compound  nouns  like  those  in  each  of  the  groups  in  paragraph  65.  * 

(c)  Adjectives  sometimes  become  nouns  by  being  used  as  the  names  of  the 
objects  they  describe ;  as,  "  I  would  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the  poor." 

(d)  Some  common  nouns  are  the  names  of  groups  or  collections  of  things  ; 
as,  pair,  crowd,  score,  family,  squad,   gang,  swarm,   flock,    herd,  jury,  army, 
committee.    These  are  called  COW,ECTIVB  NOUNS. 

(<?)  Nouns  denoting  time,  measure,  value,  direction,  or  distance,  when 
added  to  verbs,  adjectives,  and  adverbs,  are  called  ADVERBIAL  NOUNS.  ( 109. ) 

Examples  :     He  talked  an  hour.    We  ran  a  mile.     The  grass  is  a  foot  high. 
How  many  common  and  how  many  proper  nouns  can  you  find  in  the  story  of 
"Judge  Grammar's  Court,"  page  51 1 


LESSON  13. 

KINDS  OF  PRONOUNS. 

A  pronoun,  as  we  have  seen  ( n ),  is  a  word  that  mentions  a 
thing  without  naming  it. 

80.  Personal  Pronouns. — A  few  pronouns  show  whether  they 
represent  the  person  speaking,  the  person  spoken  to,  or  the  person 
spoken  of.  Hence,  they  are  called  PERSONAL  PRONOUNS  and  are 
said  to  be  of  the  first,  second,  or  third  person.  (345-) 


•To  toe  Te*KJl»er,— Not  to  be  required  of  the  class  unless  Lesson  10  was  omitted. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  36 

1.  The  first  person  pronouns  are  /  and  we. 

2.  The  only  second  person  pronoun  is  you  ( or  thou. ) 

3.  The  third  person  pronouns  are  he,  she,  they,  and  it. 

81.  The  personal  pronouns  given  above  are  used  as  subjects 
of  sentences  and  in  the  predicate  after  a  copula,  but  most  of  them 
have  other  forms  that  are  used  as  objects.     They  are  :     First  per- 
son, me,  us ;  second  person,  ( thee ) ;   third  person,  him,  her,  them. 

(a)  There  are  still  other  forms  of  the  personal  pronouns  used 
when  we  wish  to  show  which  person  a  thing  belongs  to.  They 
are :  First  person,  my,  mine,  our,  ours ;  second  person,  your, 
yours  ( thy,  thine  )  ;  third  person,  his,  her,  hers,  their,  theirs,  and 
its.  (346.) 

Note. — These  last  forms  of  the  personal  pronouns  are  called  possessive*.  We 
shall  learn  more  about  them,  and  the  object  forms  in  a  future  lesson. 

Remark. — Thou,  thee,  thy,  and  thine  are  old  English  forms  which  are  now 
rarely  met  with  except  in  the  Bible  and  in  poetry.  They  are  still  used  in  seri- 
ous forms  of  address,  especially  in  prayer. 

82.  Relatire  Pronouns.— Three  pronouns,  who,  which,  and 
that,  are  often  used  to  refer  ( '  relate ' )  to  some  noun  or  pronoun  in 
the  same  sentence  ;  thus — 

He  is  the  man  who  did  the  work.     Did  you  see  the  boy  that  was  hurt  ? 
He  once  owned  the  house  which  ( or  that )  stands  on  the  hill  yonder. 

Since  these  words,  '  who,'  '  which/  and  *  that/  relate  to  some 
other  word,  they  are  called  RELATIVES  ;  and  because  that  "  other 
word  "  generally  comes  before  the  relative,  it  is  called  the  ante- 
cedent, (ante- (  before ; '  cedent,  l going.' )  Thus  in  the  sentences 
above,  man,  boy,  and  house  are  the  antecedents  of  who,  which,  and 
that.  (347  a.) 

(a)  Who  has  two  other  forms  ( whose  and  whom )  which  are 
used  as  relatives ;  thus — 

He  is  the  man  to  whom  I  refer.     He  is  the  man  whose  house  was  burned. 
Remark. — Relative  pronouns  are  also  called  conjunctive  pronouns. 


U  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

(b)  The  antecedent  of  who  is  sometimes  omitted  ;  thus — 

[  He  ]    Who  does  the  best  his  circumstance   allows 

Does  well,  acts  nobly,  angels  could  do  no  more. 

(c)  The   antecedent  of  which  may  be  a  phrase  or  a  whole 
clause  ;  thus — 

The  speaker  did  not  arrive,  which  greatly  disappointed  the  audience. 
He  is  known  to  be  perfectly  honest,  which  is  saying  a  great  deal. 

(d)  The  relative  itself  is  often  omitted  ;  thus — 

These  are  the  flowers  [that]  she  gave  me. 

The  book  [which]  you  sent  me  is  very  interesting. 

83.  Indefinite  Pronouns.— A  pronoun  that  does  not  point  out 
a  person  or  relate  to  some  definite  person  or  object  is  an  INDEFI- 
NITE PRONOUN.  This  class  includes — 

(a)  The  following  words  always  used  as  pronouns :  I,  none,  aught, 
naught ;  2,  the  compounds  of  some,  any,  every,  and  no,  with  one,  thing,  and 
body  (6y2 ) ;  3,  the  phrases  each  other,  and  one  another. 

It  is  often  used  indefinitely  as  the  subject  of  such  sentences,  as,  //  snows. 
//  blows.  With  the  indefinites,  may  also  be  classed  the  word  thing.  ( 334  b. ) 

(o)  The  interrogative  pronoun  who  (whom  and  whose),  and  the  interroga- 
tive adjectives  which  and  what,  when  not  followed  by  the  noun  about  which  the 
question  is  asked.  (90.)  Examples:  #%<?wasit?  Whose  are  they  ?  Of  whom 
did  you  inquire  ?  Which  came  ?  What  will  you  have  ? 

(c)  Who  (whose  and  whom ),  which,  and  2^a/,when  used  to  introduce  noun 
clauses.  (120.)     Examples:    Do  you  know  who  came?    I  could  not  tell  which 
was  right.      He   did  not  know  what   he    wanted.      I    do    not    know    whose 
they  are. 

(d)  Certain  indefinite  adjectives  when  used  as  pronouns.  (92.) 

84:.  Adjective  Prononns. — When  a  word  that  is  usually  an  ad- 
jective is  used  by  itself  to  represent  a  thing,  it  becomes  a  pronoun 
and  is  called  an  ADJECTIVE-PRONOUN.  (93.) 

To  this  class  belong  the  indefinites  mentioned  above  ( 83  d)  ;  also  the  demon- 
stratives this,  that,  former,  latter,  and  same  (89);  and  the  interrogative  adjec- 
tives which  and  what.  (91.) 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  37 

85.  We  find  that  who,  which,  that,  and  what  have  a  variety  oi 
uses,  as  follows : 

( a )  The  first  three  are  relatives  when  they  follow  some  noun 
or  pronoun  to  which  they  relate.  ( 82. ) 

Remark. —  Who  is  used  to  relate  to  persons;  which,  to  things  (including  in- 
fants) ;  while  that  relates  to  either  persons  or  things.  That  after  and  is  a 
relative  if  who  or  which  will  take  the  place  of  both  words,  "  and  that."  ( 347  c. ) 

( b  )      Who  ( whom )  when  not  a  relative  is  always  an  indefinite. 

( c )  Which  when  not  a  relative  is  an  indefinite  if  used  with- 
out a  noun. 

(d}      What  when  not  used  with  a  noun  is  an  indefinite. 

(e)  Which  (whose)  and  what  when  followed  by  nouns  are 
adjectives, — interrogative  (91)  or  indefinite.     (92  a.) 

(f)  That,  besides  being  a  relative,  is  sometimes  an  adjective- 
pronoun  (84),  sometimes  a  conjunction  (115),  and  sometimes  a 
mere  introductory  word.     (31,  Note,  and  207. ) 

86.  Parse  the  italicized  words  in  the  following  fable,  by  telling 
to  which  class  of  pronouns  each  belongs : 

An  old  farmer  who  was  at  the  point  of  death  sent  for  his  son,  who  was  an  idle, 
careless  fellow.  When  the  son  came,  his  father  said :  "  /  fear  that  you  will 
soon  spend  all  your  money ;  but  /will  tell  you  what  you  must  do  when  you  find 

that  you  have  nothing.     There  is  a  treasure  in  the  ground "    "  Who  put  it 

there  ?  To  whom  does  it  belong  ?  In  what  part  of  the  farm  is  it  f  What  shall 
/  do  to  get  it  f  "  eagerly  inquired  the  son.  "  You  will  find  it  if  you  dig  for  it" 
answered  his  father ;  "  but  /will  not  tell  you  who  put  it  there,  nor  where  it  is." 
Soon  after  this  the  farmer  died.  The  young  man  forgot  everything  about  the 
treasure  till  the  money  which  had  been  left  him  was  all  gone.  Then  he  remem- 
bered what  his  father  had  told  him  to  do.  So  he  worked  away  and  dug  every- 
where about  the  farm.  He  did  not  find  the  treasure  that  he  was  hunting,  but 
his  digging  enriched  the  ground  so  that  it  brought  forth  a  double  crop  ;  and 
that  was  as  good  as  a  treasure.  After  this  he  became  an  industrious  man  and 
prospered  as  his  father  had  prospered  before  him. 


38  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

LESSON  14. 

KINDS  OF  ADJECTIVES. 

87.  Most  of  the  adjectives  in  our  language  are  words  added 
to  nouns  to  limit  or  qualify  them  by  describing  the  person  or 
object  named;  as, — 

A  good  apple,  a  high  price,  a  valuable  horse,  an  honest  man,  the  short  method, 
Japanese  fans,  the  French  fleet,  the  Russian  army,  the  American  flag.  These 
are  called  descriptive  adjectives.  They  answer  the  questions  which?  and 
what  kind? 

(a)  Descriptive     adjectives   derived    from    proper    nouns,    as    'Japanese, 
'  French,'  '  Russian,'  'American,'  are  called  proper  adjectives.     [See  Rule  8  for 
capitals,  323.  ] 

(b)  Some  descriptive  adjectives  are  derived  from  verbs  ;  as,  a  shining  light, 
a  boiling  spring,  a  rippling  stream,  startling  news.     ( 682,  Note. ) 

( c )  Nouns  are  often  used  as  descriptive  adjectives ;  as,  a  lead  pipe,  a  stone 
wall,  a  brass  door-knob,  an  oak  tree. 

Besides  the  descriptives,  there  are  the  following  kinds  of  adjec- 
tives : 

88.  Numerals. — These    are    such   as    one,  four,    ten,   thirty, 
answering  the  question  how  many  ?      Also  such  as  second,  fifth, 
twentieth,  answering  the  question  which  ? 

Remark. — Numerals  sometimes  become  pronouns.  "  Where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  my  name,"  etc.  "  The  fourth  was  better  than  the  third.  " 

89.  Demonstratives. — {Demonstrate — '  to  point  out.' )     There 
are   five     demonstratives:     this   (these),   that   (those),  yonder, 
former,  latter,  and  same. 

These  and  those  are  but  different  forms  of  this  and  that.     (150.) 

This  and  these  are  used  to  point  out  things  near  by  ;  that  and  those  to  point 
out,  or  refer  to  things  farther  away  ;  former  and  latter,  to  show  which  of  two 
things  already  mentioned  is  referred  to  ;  same  refers  to  something  just  spoken 
of.  The  demonstratives  answer  the  question  which  ?  When  the  name  of  the  thing 
referred  to  is  not  given  in  the  sentence  they  become  adjective-pronouns.  ( 84. ) 

90.  Articles.— Two  adjectives,  an  (or«)  and  the,  are  called 

ARTICLES.       (349.) 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  39 

(a)  The  word  '  an  '  (or  a)  is  a  weak  form  of  the  numeral  one ;  but  unlike 
the  numerals  it  does  not  answer  the  question  how  many?  nor  yet  the  ques« 
tion  which  ?  excepting  in  an  indefinite  way  ;  as — 

An  accident  happened.     A  man  was  killed.     A  sad  sight. 
Hence,  an  is  called  the  indefinite  article.     [See  150  a.  ] 

( b )  The  is  but  a  weakened  form  of  the  demonstrative  that.     It  is  called  the 
definite  article  because  it  points  out  in  a  more  definite  way.     ( 349  a. ) 

Examples  :     The  accident  happened  yesterday.     The  sight  was  a  sad  one. 

91.  Interrogatives.—  Which,  what,  and  whose,  when  used  be- 
fore the  name  of  the  thing  about  which  a  question  is  asked,  are 
INTERROGATIVE  ADJECTIVES. 

Examples :     Which  desk  do  you  prefer  ?     What  book  do  you  want ?     Whose 
house  was  burned  ? 

But  when  the  noun  is  omitted,  which,  what,  and  whose  are 
interrogative,  indefinite  pronouns.     (83^.) 

Examples  :     Which  do  you  prefer  ?     What  do  you  want  ?     Whose  was  that  ? 

92.  Indefinites. — Each,  every,  either,  neither,  some,  any,  many, 
much,  few,  all,  both,  and  no  are  called  INDEFINITE  ADJECTIVES. 
Most  of  them  answer  the  question  which  ?  or  how  many  ?  in  an 
indefinite  way.     When  they  are  used  as  pronouns,  as  all  of  them 
are  except  every,  they  are  indefinite.     (83.) 

(a)     The  interrogatives  which,  whose,  and  what,  when  used 
to  modify  nouns  without  asking  questions,  are  indefinites. 

Examples  :     He  did  not  know  which  road  to  take.     I  do  not  know  at  what  time 
he  will  arrive.      She  did  not  know  whose  advice  to  follow. 

93.  Pronominals.— We  have  seen    that    numerals  (88),  the 
demonstratives  (89),  the  interrogatives  (91),  and  the  indefinites, 
except  every  (92),  are  sometimes  used  as  pronouns.     They  are 
pronouns  when  they  stand  alone  to  represent  things,  but  adjectives 
when  they  stand  with  nouns  to  limit  them.     On  account  of  this 
double   use,  they  are   called   PRONOMINAL   ADJECTIVES,  or   AD- 
JECTIVE-PRONOUNS.    [  84  and  350.  ] 

Furnish  adjectives  belonging  to  each  of  the  classes   mentioned 
in  paragraphs  68  and  69. 


40  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

94.  How  to  distinguish  Pronouns  from  Adjectiyes. — 

(a)  Sometimes  an  adjective  is  used  without  its  noun  to  avoid 
the  repetition  of  the  noun  in  the  same  sentence  ;  thus — 

That  piece  is  good,  but  this  [  piece  ]  is  better.  Several  boys  applied,  but  only 
three  [boys]  were  employed.  Which  [ problem ]  of  these  problems  did  you 
solve  ?  These  plums  are  good,  but  those  [  plums]  are  better. 

In  such  cases,  the  omitted  nouns  are  said  to  be  "understood," 
They  can  be  supplied  after  their  adjectives,  from  the  same  sen- 
tence. (35i.) 

( b )  But  when   you  cannot  supply  the  noun   ( or   pronoun ) 
from  the  same  sentence,  the  word  that  takes  its  place  is  a  pronoun. 

Examples :  These  are  good,  but  those  are  better.  Each  was  positive,  but 
neither  was  right.  Many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen.  Which  do  you  prefer  ? 

95.  Tell  which  of  the  italicized  words  in  this  and  the  following 
sentences  are  adjectives,  and  which  are  pronouns : 

I.  Some  persons  think  one  thing  and  some  think  another.  2.  Some  persons 
work  while  others  sleep.  3.  Many  believe  this  while  only  a  few  believe  that. 
4.  Merchants  compete  with  each  other  for  our  trade.  5.  We  have  sold  several 
of  this  kind  and  a  few  of  the  other.  6.  If  you  know  of  any  for  sale,  write  to 
us  at  once.  7.  Of  all  the  goods  we  handle,  these  are  the  best.  8.  In  all  our 
stock,  we  have  nothing  cheaper  than  those.  9.  Our  firm  can  now  compete  with 
any  in  the  country.  10.  Their  prices  compare  favorably  with  those  of  other 
houses,  ii.  We  cannot  employ  any  but  competent  workers.  12.  We  handle 
none  but  first-class  goods,  and  we  guarantee  satisfaction  to  those  who  buy 
of  us.  13.  They  are  kind  to  all  in  their  employ.  14.  We  have  a  score  of  ap- 
plications from  such  as  he.  15.  He  thought  while  others  talked.  16.  Each 
blames  the  other.  17.  She  likes  this^  but  I  prefer  the  other.  18.  Both  made 
application,  but  neither  was  successful.  19.  Nothing  could  please  us  better 
than  that.  20.  They  watch  one  another ',  but  neither  thinks  the  other  knows  it. 

21.  We  recommend  the  higher-priced  machine,  but  we  will  furnish  you  either. 

22.  Either  one  thing  or  the  other  must  be  done.     23.  First  one  thing  and  then 
another  prevented  my  writing.     24.  The  same  that  has  been  said  of  -others  may 
be  said  of  him.     25.    What  you  say  is  true,  but  the  same  thing  may  be  said  of 
other  business  undertakings.      26.    Which  of  the  buildings   have  you   leased? 
27.    Which  of  the  two  is  the  more  business-like  ?      28.    What  are  you  going  to 
do  about  it?     29.  The  latter  plan  should  be  adopted  because  the  former  is  im- 
practicable  at  this  time.      30.  The  cry  of  danger  to  the  Union  was  raised  to 
divert  their  assaults  upon  the  Constitution.    It  was  the  latter  and  not  the  former 
which  was  in  danger. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  41 

LESSON   15. 

KINDS  OF  VERBS. 

96.  We  have  already  learned  (4^)  that  verbs  are  the  words 
that  do  the  asserting,  and  we  have  noticed  the  importance  of  this 
part-of-speech  as  an  element.     All  the  other  parts  of  speech  to- 
gether cannot  express  a  thought  without  the  help  of  a  verb. 
Indeed,  the  very  importance  of  these  words  gave  them  their  name 
in  the  first  place ;  for,  on  account  of  their  importance,  the  Latins, 
or  Romans,  used  to  call  them  VKRBA,  which  meant  '  the  word.' 
The  verbs  in  our  language  have  a  certain  difference  of  use  which 
divides  them  into  two  general  classes. 

97.  Transitire  Yerfos. — Some  verbs  require  an  object  to  show 
their  full  meaning  ;  as — 

The  officer  caught  [the  thief].     She  found  [a. purse]. 
The  player  struck  [the  ball].       They  have  [a. piano]. 

In  these  sentences,  the  italicized  words  in  the  brackets  are  called 
objects.  They  each  name  the  person  or  object  that  receives  the 
action  expressed  by  the  verb.  (42.)  And  since  the  action  passes 
from  the  subject  over  to  the  object,  these  verbs  are  said  to  be 
TRANSITIVE,  which  means  (  going  over.'  You  will  notice  that 
when  we  leave  off  the  words  in  the  brackets,  the  sentences  are 
not  complete ;  that  is,  there  seems  to  be  a  part  of  the  thought 
unexpressed. 

(a)  But  not  all  transitive  verbs  require  the  object  to  be  expressed,  for  many 
of  them  will  make  sense  without  it ;  thus — 

Henry  studies.     She  sang.     The  children  played.     He  teaches. 

Such  expressions  make  sense,  and  are  therefore  sentences  ;  yet  the  meaning 
of  the  verb  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  complete,  for  we  may  reasonably  ask  ( and 
often  do )  such  questions  as,  '  Henry  studies  what?  '  '  He  teaches  what? '  And 
the  answer  to  the  question  would  be  the  object  of  the  verb ;  as — 

'Henry  studies  algebra?    *  She  sang  alto.'    '  The  children  played  croquet.1 

Hence,  we  conclude  that  though  a  transitive  requires  an  object  to  complete 
its  meaning,  the  object  need  not  always  be  expressed. 


42  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

98.  Intransitive  Terbs.— Many  verbs  denoting  action  do  not 
require   an   object   to   complete   their   meaning.     They   express 
a  meaning  completely. 

Examples :     It  grows.     He  laughs.     The  baby  prattles.     The  boys  quarrel. 

We  cannot  turn  these  sentences  into  sensible  questions  and 
ask — 

'  It  grows  what?  '     '  He  laughs  what? '     '  The  baby  prattles  what  ? ' 

Such  verbs  as  grow,  laugh,  prattle,  quarrel,  cannot  take  ob- 
jects after  them,  and  for  this  reason  they  are  called  INTRANSITIVE. 

99.  We  have,  then,  these  definitions  : 

1.  A  transitive  verb  requires  an  object  to  complete  its  meaning, 
though  the  object  may  be  unexpressed. 

2.  An  intransitive  verb  cannot  take  an  object.* 

The  same  verb  may  be  either  transitive  or  intransitive,  accord- 
ing to  the  way  it  is  used. 

Examples :    The  sun  melts  the  snow.     The  snow  melts  rapidly.     The  farmer 
burns  wood.    That  wood  burns  slowly. 

100.  How  to  tell  Transitive  from  Intransitive  Verbs. 

(a)  If  the  verb   represents   the  subject  as  acting,  read  the 
predicate  of  the  sentence  and  put  the  question  what  ?  after  it. 
If  it  makes  a  sensible  question,  the  verb  is  transitive  and  the 
answer  to  the  question  will  be  the  object.    ( 43. ) 

Examples  :    The  girls  study  what?    The  lawyer  charges  what?    The  fisher- 
man caught  what?    Farmers  raise  what? 

(b)  If  the  question  what?  would  not  make  sense  after  the 
predicate,  the  verb  is  intransitive. 

Examples  :    The  stars  shine.    The  water  flows.    She  lingers.    It  snows.    They 
were  sick  of  it.    That  man  is  reckless.    I  am  happy. 

You  see  that  it  would  not  make  a  sensible  question  to  put 
what  ?  after  these  predicates ;  as — 

The  stars  shine  what  ?    That  man  is  reckless  what  ? 
*To  this  there  is  an  exception  which,  however,  should  not  be  intruded  at  this  point.   (218.) 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  43 

Note. — The  last  three  examples  in  (b)  have  predicates  consisting  of  a  copula 
and  an  adjective.  By  applying  the  test  to  such  sentences,  you  can  see  that 
copula  verbs  are  always  intransitive.  The  pure  copula  verbs  are  be,  am,  is, 
are,  was,  were.  ( 16  a)  Besides  these,  a  few  other  intransitive  verbs  and  verb- 
phrases  are  frequently  used  copulatively.  The  principal  ones  are  seem,  appear, 
become,  look,  feel,  taste,  smell ^  and  the  phrases  formed  by  putting  other  verbs 
before  them.  ( 352. ) 

101.  Passive  Verb-phrases. — The  object  of  a  transitive  verB 
may  become  the  subject  of  a  verb-phrase  in  a  sentence  express- 
ing the  same  thought.     Thus — 

'  The  horse  kicked  that  man,'  may  be  changed  to  '  That  man  was  kicked  by 
the  horse.' 

In  the  last  sentence,  the  form  of  the  predicate  shows  that  the 
subject  receives  the  action.  This  is  called  the  PASSIVE  form-  of 
the  predicate  to  distinguish  it  from  the  ACTIVE  form  given  in  the 
first  sentence.  (353.) 

(a)  The  active  form  of  assertion  represents  the  subject  as  being  the  actor — • 
the  one  acting ;  the  passive  form  represents  the  subject  as  receiving  the  action. 
( Passive  means  '  receiving.' ) 

102.  Change  the  following  predicates  from  the  active  to  the 
passive  form : 

The  cashier  counted  the  money.  They  paid  their  notes  last  week. 

We  employed  two  bookkeepers.  A  stenographer  reported  the  speeches. 

The  clerk's  employer  discharged  him.   A  committee  drafted  resolutions. 

Parse  the  verbs  in  the  sentences  in  paragraph  95,  by  telling 
which  are  transitive  and  which  are  intransitive. 

Furnish  verbs  belonging  to  each  of  the  classes  mentioned  in 
paragraphs  70  and  71. 

Point  out  thirty  verbs  and  verb-phrases  in  the  fable  on  page  5. 


44  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

LESSON  16. 

CLASSES  OF  ADVERBS. 

103.  We  have  learned  that  as  the  words  added  to  nouns  to 
limit  or  qualify  them  are  called  '  adjectives/  so  the  words  added 
to  verbs  to  limit  or  modify  them  are  called  (  adverbs.'     We  have 
seen  also  that  adverbs  modify  adjectives  and  other  adverbs.    (20.) 
They  may  modify  even  prepositions  and  conjunctions.     ( 354. ) 

104.  Instead  of  speaking  of  the   kinds  of  adverbs,  we  shall 
consider  them  in  classes,  as  answering  the  following  questions : 

How?     When?     Where?    Why?   How  far?  or   In  what  degree? 

( a )  Adverbs  answering  how  f  are  such  as —  or,  so,  thus,  somehow,  hastily. 

(b)  Answering  to  when?  are  such  as —  now,  then,  soon,  there,  never,  here- 
after, always,  seldom,  frequently. 

(c)  Answering  to  where  f  are —  here,  there,  yonder,  hence,  down,  out,  above. 

(d)  Answering  why  f  are — hence,  therefore,  accordingly. 

(<?)  Answering  the  question  how  far?  are —  much,  no,  none,  nothing 
almost,  scarcely,  hardly,  quite,  very,  too,  little,  more,  greatly. 

Note. — The  same  adverb  may,  in  different  connections,  answer  the  different 
questions  according  to  its  meaning. 

(f)  Still  other  adverbs  cannot  be  said  to  answer  any  of  these  questions. 
They  are  such  as —  indeed,  certainly,  verily,  truly,  surely,  not,  perhaps,  possibly. 

Remark. — These  last  are  sometimes  called  modal  adverbs  (mode,  'manner,') 
because  they  show  the  manner  in  which  the  assertion  or  statement  is  made. 
Not  and  no  (also  none)  are  sometimes  called  negative  adverbs. 

105.  How,  when,  where,  why,  when  used  in  asking  questions 
(see   examples   above),  are   called   interrogative  adverbs.      But 
these  and  certain  other  adverbs  often  become  conjunctions  with- 
out losing  much,  if  any,  of  their  adverbial  force.     They  are  then 
called  conjunctive-adverbs,  or  adverbial-conjunctions. 

106.  Many  adverbs  are  regularly  made  from  nouns  and  ad- 
jectives by  prefixes  and  suffixes  (72),  and  they  may  generally  be 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  45 

known  by  their  form.     Furnish  adverbs  belonging  to  each  of  the 
classes  mentioned  in  paragraphs  72  and  73. 

( a )  Some  adjectives  are  used  as  adverbs  without  change  of 
form ;  thus — 

Better,  little,  late,  far,  hard,  further,  first,  last,  long,  short,  fast,  much,  more, 
high.  ( 243,  Note. )  Some  of  these,  however,  at  times  take  the  ending  ly, 
but  with  a  change  in  meaning. 

107.  Certain  phrases  have  come  to  be  used  and  regarded  as 
single  adverbs.     (737-)     They  are  such  as — 

Of  course,  of  late,  for  good,  of  old,  at  all,  at  length,  ere  long,  in  vain,  in 
general,  as  usual,  by  and  by,  over  and  over,  again  and  again,  through  and 
through,  hand  in  hand,  to  and  fro,  up  and  down. 

108.  Yes  and  no  were  formerly  used  as  adverbs,  but  they  are  no  longer  re- 
garded as  such,  being  in  themselves  complete  answers.     ( 355. ) 

(a )  The  adverbial  force  of  there  is  lost  when  that  word  is  used  as  an  indefi- 
nite subject  of  a  sentence  ;  ( 31,  Note]  as — 

There  is  some  mistake  about  it.     There  were  none  there. 

(b)  So,  well,  and  why  also  lose  their  adverbial  force  when  used  merely  to 
introduce  sentences. 

109.  Nouns  denoting  time,  distance,  measure,  value,  or  direc- 
tion are  also  used  adverbially  to  qualify  verbs,  adjectives,  and 
adverbs.     (217.) 

Example :    They  were  gone  a  month  and  travelled  a  thousand  miles.     ( 79  e) 

Point  out  the  adverbs  in  the  sentences  at  (b),  paragraph  40, 
and  those  in  the  fable  on  page  71,  telling  what  question  each 
one  answers.  Also  point  out  the  adverbial  nouns  in  the  sentences 
in  paragraph  217. 


46  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

LESSON  17. 

KINDS  OF  CONJUNCTIONS. 

110.  Co-ordinate. — We  have  noticed  the  use  of  the  conjunc- 
tions to  connect  compound  elements  and  compound  sentences.  The 
words  most  commonly  used  in  this  way  are — 

and,  but,  or,  nor, 

and  they  are  called  CO-ORDINATE  CONJUNCTIONS  {co-ordinate} 
means  '  of  equal  rank  or  order.'  )  By  turning  to  Lesson  8,  you 
will  see  that  these  words,  *  and?  (  but]  '  or]  '  nor]  are  used  to 
connect  words,  phrases  and  sentences  of  the  same  kind  or  rank. 
For  instance,  in  the  first  sentence,  (49)  — 

Checks  and  drafts  are  cashed, 

the  word  drafts  is  just  as  much  the  subject  as  checks,  but  no 
more  so.  Either  of  these  words  can  be  omitted  and  the  other 
will  make  a  subject  for  the  sentence.  This  shows  that  the  words 
are  of  equal  importance,  or  of  the  same  rank  in  the  sentence, 
neither  one  depending  upon  the  other.  In  the  same  manner, 
ride  and  walk  (  2d  sentence,  49),  words  of  the  same  kind  {verbs} 
are  connected  by  or,  and  the  same  word  is  used  ( 6th  sentence ) 
to  connect  the  two  adjectival  phrases,  '  in  gold '  and  '  in  bank- 
notes.' Likewise,  the  word  but  connects  (50)  the  simple 
sentences — 

They  all  went  to  the  picnic  but  I  stayed  at  home  and  worked. 

And  since  neither  of  these  sentences  depends  on  the  other  for  its 
meaning,  they  are  of  the  same  rank ;  therefore  but  is  a  co-ordi- 
nate conjunction. 

(a)  Besides  those  given  above,  the  following  co-ordinate  conjunctions  are 
more  or  less  used :  Also,  accordingly,  besides,  consequently,  else,  furthermore, 
hence,  however,  moreover,  nevertheless,  notwithstanding,  otherwise,  so,  still, 
then,  therefore,  yet,  etc. 

Note. — It  must  be  understood,  however,  that  these  words  are  not  always 
conjunctions,  for  some  of  them,  at  times,  are  pure  adverbs.  ( 105. ) 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  47 

111.    Subordinate. — A  great  many  of  our  conjunctions  are 
used  in  a  way  quite  different  from  and,  but,  or,  and  nor,  as  ex- 
plained above.     To  illustrate,  take  the  following  sentence : 
He  paid  the  bill  before  it  was  due. 

Here  we  have  two  statements  joined  together  by  the  word 
before;  but  you  will  notice  that  the  second  statement,  '  it  was 
due/  is  used  to  tell  something  about  the  first.  It  answers  the 
question  when  f  in  reference  to  his  paying  the  bill.  We  have 
seen  (104^)  that  words  answering  the  question  when?  are 
adverbs  ;  therefore  the  statement  ( it  was  due '  must  have  an 
adverbial  use  in  this  sentence. 

To  make  the  above  still  more  clear,  let  us  take  the  sentence, 
He  paid  the  bill  promptly, 

in  which  the  word  '  promptly '  is  an  adverb  modifying  the  verb  '  paid,'  and 
answering  the  question  when  ? 

Now  by  expanding  promptly  into  a  phrase,  we  have — 

He  paid  the  bill  on  time, 

and  the  phrase  answers  the  same  question,  when  f 
Again,  we  may  expand  the  phrase  by  saying — 

He  paid  the  bill  when  it  was  due, 

which  shows  clearly  that  the  statement  '  it  was  due '  is  an  adverbial  element' 
modifying  paid,  and  it  is  connected  with  that  word  by  when,  a  conjunctive- 
adverb.  ( 105. ) 

(a)  But  there  is  one  difference  between  this  adverbial 
element,  '  it  was  due]  and  the  other  elements  we  have  learned 
about ;  it  contains  a  subject  and  predicate  of  its  own.  It  is  the 
subject,  and  was  due  the  predicate.  But  it  is  not  a  sentence  ;  it 
is  only  an  element  in  a  longer  sentence.  When  an  element  of  a 
sentence  contains  within  itself  a  subject  and  predicate,  it  is  called 
a  clause,  and  the  word  that  connects  it  to  the  word  it  modifies  is 
called  a  SUBORDINATE  CONJUNCTION.  You  may  generally  know 
a  subordinate  conjunction  by  the  fact  that  it  introduces  a  clause 
that  will  answer  some  one  of  the  questions  usually  answered  by 
adverbs.  ( 23. ) 


48  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

112.  The  most  common  subordinate  conjunctions  are — 

1.  Those  denoting  time — answering  when  ?  how  long  ?  how  often  f 
Examples :    When,  while,  as,  before,  ere,  since,  after,  whenever,  till,  until. 

2.  Those   denoting  place — answering  where?  as,  Where,   whence,  whither. 

3.  Those  expressing  reason — answering  why  f 
Examples  :     Because,  for,  since,  as,  so,  wherefore,  that,  lest. 

As  also  expresses  manner — answering  how?    Example  :    You  do  as  I  do. 

4.  Those  expressing  condition — answering  on  what  condition  ? 
Examples  :     If,  unless,  except,  provided. 

5.  As  and  than  are  called  "conjunctions  of  comparison." 

113.  Certain    conjunction-phrases  (76 a)  are   also   adverbially 

used  and  are  to  be  regarded  as  adverbial  conjunctions.    They  are — 

• 

As  if,  as  though,  but  also,  but  likewise,  whether  or,  so  that,  except  that,  inas- 
much as,  notwithstanding  that,  as  if  though,  in  order  that,  as  well  as,  (357 a,) 
as  far  as,  so  far  as,  as  little  as,  etc. 

Write  sentences,  using  the  above-mentioned  conjunctions  and  phrases. 
• 

114:.  Correlatives. — Certain  words  ( adverbs  and  adjectives )  when  used 
to  introduce  compound  elements,  require  certain  conjunctions  to  follow  them  to 
connect  those  elements.  Thus — 

Both  is  followed  by  and;  as —  Both  (adj.)  wheat  and  corn  are  exported.  He 
was  both  ( adv. )  hasty  and  unwise. 

Either  is  followed  by  or  ;  neither  by  nor ;  as —  Either  ( adj. )  James  or  John 
will  go.  He  was  always  either  (adv.)  too  fast  or  too  slow.  Neither  (adj.)  he 
nor  I  knew  your  intentions.  It  is  neither  ( adv.)  too  warm  nor  too  cold. 

Words  used  in  pairs  in  this  way  are  called  CORRELATIVES  ( '  having  mutual 
relation,' )  and  the  last  word  of  the  pair  is  called  a  correlative  conjunction.  ( 357  b. ) 

Other  correlative  conjunctions  with  the  words  they  follow  are  :  Not — nor 
as — as,  so — as,  if— then,  though — yet,  not  only — but,  as  well — as,  etc. 

115.      That  when  used  as  a  pure  conjunction  means  '  in  order  that ; '  as, 

They  fought  that  they  might  have  peace. 
[For  other  uses  of  that,  see  paragraphs  85  /  and  123  a.] 


PLAIN     ENGLISH.  49 

116.  Conjunctions  are  used  to  introduce  sentences  and  connect  them  in 
thought  to  what  goes  before.  The  words  most  used  in  this  way  are  the  co- 
ordinates, and  and  but,  and  the  subordinates,  so,  for,  now,  then,  therefore, 
wherefore,  however,  nevertheless,  so  then,  etc. 

Point  out  the  conjunctions  in  the  fables  in  paragraphs  86  and 
172. 


LESSON   18. 

ANALYSIS  OF  COMPLEX  SENTENCES. 

To  the  Teacher. — The  full  analysis  of  complex  sentences  should  not  be 
taken  up  until  the  work  of  this  lesson  has  been  gone  over  in  outline.  [  See 
directions  concerning  analysis,  paragraphs  124-5.  ] 

117.  We  saw  in  our  last  lesson  that  clauses  may  be  used  to 
modify  or  limit  a  verb,  the  same  as  an  adverb  or  adverbial  phrase. 
Such  a  clause,  then,  is  an  ADVERBIAL  CLAUSE. 

Adverbial  clauses  generally  express  some  fact  as  to  time,  place, 
reason,  manner,  etc.,  answering  to  the  questions  when?  where? 
why  ?  how  ?  etc.  They  are  connected  to  the  word  they  modify 
by  subordinate  conjunctions,  or  by  conjunctive  adverbs  (105) ;  as — • 

They  have  paid  it  since  you  saw  them. 

The  train  arrived  while  we  were  standing  there. 

It  happened  just  as  we  were  leaving. 

She  found  the  letter  where  she  had  left  it. 

He  did  as  he  was  told  because  he  was  threatened. 

I  must  go  as  ( because )  they  will  need  my  assistance. 

They  will  depend  upon  you,  therefore  you  must  go. 

They  will  pay  the  check  if  you  present  it  promptly. 

We  will  prepay  the  charges  provided  cash  accompanies  the  order. 

118.  Adjectival  Clauses. — Clauses  may  also  be  used  to  take 
the  place  of  adjectives  or  adjectival  phrases  limiting  nouns  or 
pronouns;  thus — 

Conscientious  men  are  needed  in  every  walk  of  life. 
Men  of  conscience  are  needed  in  every  walk  of  life. 
Men  who  are  conscientious  are  needed  in  every  walk  of  life. 


50  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

The  adjective  '  conscientious '  in  the  first  sentence  is  expanded 
into  an  adjectival  phrase  in  the  second,  and  into  a  clause  in  the 
third.  So  the  clause,  *  who  are  conscientious,'  does  the  work  of 
an  adjective,  and  is,  therefore,  an  ADJECTIVAL  CLAUSE. 

(a)  Change  the  adjectival  clauses  in  the  following  sentences 
into  phrases,  or  reduce  them  to  single  words : 

A  thing  that  is  beautiful  is  a  joy  forever. 

A  tree  that  has  no  leaves  has  but  little  beauty. 

Some  men  that  are  wealthy  are  yet  very  poor. 

A  person  who  is  hopeful  looks  on  the  side  that  is  bright. 

A  man  who  is  fearless  always  defends  a  cause  that  is  righteous. 

1 19.  Notice  that  adjectival  clauses  begin  with  the  relative 
pronouns,  who,  which,  and  that;  and  while  they  serve  as  connect- 
ive elements  (joining  the  subordinate  clauses  to  the  words  they 
limit),  these  relatives  are  also  used  as  the  subjects  in  the  subordi- 
nate clauses.     But  they  are  not  always  so  used ;  they  are  quite 
frequently  used  as  objects  of  verbs  or  prepositions ;  thus — 

Are  these  the  books  that  you  selected  ? 
This  is  the  one  to  which  I  referred. 
He  is  the  man  of  whom  I  was  speaking. 
There  are  few  men  of  whom  that  can  be  said. 
It  was  a  sight  the  like  of  which  I  had  never  seen. 
That  is  the  house  in  which  he  formerly  lived. 

120.  Subordinate  clauses  are  used  not  only  as  adjectival  and 
adverbial  elements,  but  they  are  also   freely  used  to  take   the 
place  of  nouns.     And  this  they  do  in  any  place  in  the  sentence, 
except  as  a  possessive  modifier — that  is,  we  may  have  a  subject 
clause,  a  predicate  clause,  or  an  object  clause  ;  but  we  do  not 
have  possessive  clauses.     Clauses  used  as  subject  or  object  ele- 
ments, or  in  the  predicate  after  copula  verbs,  are  noun  clauses, 
because  they  occupy  the  place  usually  occupied  by  nouns. 

121.  Examples  of  noun  clauses  used  as  subjects: 

That  he  is  honest  is  admitted  by  all. 
That  the  boy  is  innocent  is  the  general  opinion. 
That  the  undertaking  will  be  a  success  is  doubted  by  many, 
ttye  note  was  fraudulently  obtaine4  was  the  defens§. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  51 

122.  Noun  clauses  used  as  objects  : 

All  admit  that  he  is  honest. 

He  told  me  that  you  were  expecting  to  go. 

Do  you  know  who  called  yesterday  ? 

He  "talked  to  me  about  what  had  happened. 

123.  Noun  clauses  in  the  predicate  : 

The  general  opinion  is  that  the  boy  is  honest. 

The  results  are  not  what  we  expected. 

His  defense  was  that  the  note  was  fraudulently  obtained. 

Remark. — We  shall  find  farther  on  that  noun  clauses  are  used  in  still  another 
way.  ( 212. ) 

(a)  That  is  used  in  a  peculiar  way  to  introduce  noun  clauses.  [See  ex- 
amples above.]  In  such  cases  it  is  neither  a  conjunction  nor  a  relative  pro- 
noun, but  merely  an  introductory  word  (31,  Note}  used  before  the  clause  in 
much  the  same  way  that  the  and  an  are  used  before  nouns.  ( 358. ) 

124.  Complex  Sentences. — Sentences  containing  noun  clauses, 
adverbial  clauses,  or  adjectival  clauses  are  called  COMPLEX  SEN- 
TENCES.    If  a  compound  sentence  (50  a)  contains  such  a  clause  it 
is  called  a  compound-complex  sentence. 

Note. — In  analyzing  complex  sentences,  first  treat  the  whole  subordinate 
clause  as  though  it  were  a  single  word  ( a  noun,  an  adjective,  or  an  adverb,  as 
the  case  may  be ) ;  then  analyze  the  subordinate  clause  as  if  it  were  a  sentence 
by  itself. 

125.  Analyze  the  complex  sentences  given  in  paragraphs  117 
to  123  of  this  lesson;    then    analyze    the    sentences    given    in 
paragraph  95.     Point  out  the  complex  sentences  and  tell  how  the 
subordinate  clauses  are  used  in  the  following  story : 

JUDGE  GRAMMAR'S  COURT. 

Now,  as  some  of  these  Parts-of-Speech  have  more  words  than  others,  and  as 
they  all  like  to  have  as  many  as  they  can  get,  it  follows,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that 
they  are  rather  given  to  quarreling ;  and  so  it  happened  one  day,  when  my 
story  begins,  they  made  so  much  noise,  wrangling  and  jangling  in  the  court, 
that  they  woke  Judge  Grammar  up  from  a  long  and  very  comfortable  nap. 

"  What  is  all  this  about  ?  "  he  growled  out,  angrily.  "  Brother  Parsing !  Dr. 
Syntax!  here!" 

\ 


52  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

In  an  instant  the  Judge's  two  learned  counsellors  were  by  his  side. 

Sergeant  Parsing  ("  Brother  Parsing,"  the  Judge  calls  him,)  has  a  sharp  nose, 
bright  eyes,  a  little  round  wig  with  a  tail  to  it,  and  an  eye-glass.  He  is  very 
quick  and  cunning  in  finding  out  who  people  are  and  what  they  mean,  and  mak- 
ing them  tell  "  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth."  It  is  of 
no  use  to  say  "  I  don't  know  "  to  Sergeant  Parsing.  He  will  question  you,  and 
question  you,  till  somehow  or  other  he  makes  you  know,  for  that  is  his  business, 
and  that  is  why  Judge  Grammar  summoned  him.  Whenever  there  is  a  fuss  in 
Grammarland,  Sergeant  Parsing  has  to  find  out  all  about  it,  and  Dr.  Syntax  has 
to  say  what  is  right  or  wrong,  according  to  the  law. 

"  Brother  Parsing,"  said  the  Judge,  "  this  racket  must  be  stopped.  What  are 
they  fighting  about  ?  I  divided  the  words  clearly  enough  once  amongst  the 
Parts-of-Speech.  Why  cannot  they  keep  the  peace  ?  " 

"  My  lord,"  answered  Sergeant  Parsing,  "the  fact  is  that  it  is  a  long  time 
since  you  portioned  out  the  words,  and  the  Parts-of-Speech  since  then  have  been 
left  to  do  pretty  much  as  they  like.  Some  of  them  are  greedy,  and  have  stolen 
their  neighbors'  words.  Some  of  them  have  got  hold  of  new  words,  which 
others  say  they  had  no  right  to  make  ;  and  some  of  them  are  even  inclined  to 
think  that  Dr.  Syntax  is  old-fashioned,  and  needs  not  be  obeyed.  In  fact,  unless 
your  lordship  takes  the  matter  in  hand  at  once,  I  fear  the  good  old  laws  of 
Grammarland  will  all  go  to  wreck  and  ruin." 

"  That  must  never  be,"  said  the  Judge,  solemnly  shaking  his  wig,  "  that  must 
never  be.  We  must  stop  it  at  once.  Go  and  summon  all  my  court  before  me." 

Away  went  Sergeant  Parsing,  as  quick  as  thought,  and  soon  the  whole  court 
was  assembled.  There  was  Judge  Grammar  on  his  throne,  with  a  long  flowing 
wig  and  gorgeous  robes.  At  the  table  below  him,  sat  his  two  counsellors,  Ser- 
geant Parsing  and  Dr.  Syntax.  Dr.  Syntax  is  very  tall  and  thin  and  dark.  He 
has  a  long,  thin  neck,  covered  up  with  a  stiff  black  tie  which  looks  as  though  it 
nearly  choked  him.  When  he  speaks  he  stands  up,  looks  straight  through  his 
spectacles,  sticks  out  his  chin,  and  says  his  say  in  a  gruff  and  melancholy  voice, 
as  if  he  were  repeating  a  lesson.  He  is  the  terror  of  all  little  boys,  for  he  never 
smiles,  and  he  is  so  very,  very  old,  that  people  say  he  never  was  young  like 
other  folks;  that  when  he  was  a  baby  he  always  cried  in  Greek,  and  that  his 
first  attempt  at  talking  was  in  Latin.  However  that  may  be,  there  he  sat,  side 
by  side  with  Sergeant  Parsing,  while  the  children  from  Schoolroom-shire,  armed 
with  slates  and  pencils,  prepared  to  listen  to  the  examination  that  was  to  take 
place,  and  the  Parts-of-Speech  crowded  together  at  the  end  of  the  court,  waiting 
for  their  names  to  be  called.  * 

*  Abridged  from  the  Introduction  to  "  Grammarland  or  Grammar  in  fun  for  the  Children  of 
Schoolroom-shire,"  a  little  work  by  M.  I,.  Nesbitt ;  published  by  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York- 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  53 

LESSON  19. 

FORM-CHANGE. 

126.  We  have  learned  to  tell  the  parts  of  speech  by  examining 
a  sentence  and  finding  out  what  each  word  does.     We  have  seen 
also  (63)  how  one  part-of-speech  may  be  changed  to  another  by 
making  some  addition  to  it,  so  as  to  make  it  really  a  new  word. 
Now  there  is  another  kind  of  change  sometimes  made  in  a  word, 
not  to  form  a  new  word,  but  to  make  the  same  word  express 
another  idea.     Thus,  we  say — 

'Horse,'  'man,'  'peach,'  'book,'  'knife,' 

when  we  wish  to  express  the  idea  of  only  one  of  each  object 
mentioned ;  but  when  we  want  to  express  the  idea  of  more  than 
one  of  them,  we  say — 

'Horses,'  'men,   'peaches,'   'books,'   'knives.' 

127.  Again,  some  words  are  changed  in  form  to  make  them 
"  agree  "   with  other  words  in  the  same  sentence.      Thus,  we 
say — 

'  The  horse  runs?  but  '  the  horses  run; ' 

'  The  man  reads?  but '  the  men  read ; ' 

'  This  peach  is  ripe,'  but  *  these  peaches  are  ripe ; ' 

*  The  book  was  sold,'  but  *  the  books  were  sold  ; ' 

'That  knife  is  sharp,'  and  not  *  those  knives  is  sharp.' 

You  will  notice  that  the  verbs  '  runs,'  '  reads/  '  is,'  and  '  was,' 
have  been  changed  in  form  to  run,  read,  are,  and  were.  We 
make  this  change  in  the  form  of  the  verb,  not  because  we  want 
to  change  the  meaning,  but  because  the  nouns  being  changed  so 
as  to  mean  more  than  one,  the  verbs  are  changed  to  make  them 
agree  with  the  subject.  Changing  the  forms  of  words  to  change 
their  meaning,  or  to  make  them  agree  with  each  other,  is  done  to 
some  extent  with  each  part-of-speech  except  prepositions  and 
conjunctions.  We  are  now  ready  to  study  the  form-changes  of 
nouns,  pronouns,  adjectives,  adverbs  and  verbs.  (359.) 


64  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

NOUN-FORMS. 

128.  Number  Form. — As  we  have  seen  above  (126),  nouns  are 
changed  in  form  to  denote  the  idea  of  more  than  one  ;  as — 

Note,  notes;  tree,  trees  ;  match,  matches ;  calf,  calves  ;  berry,  berries. 

Since  these  different  forms  of  the  noun  show  whether  we  are 
speaking  of  one  or  a  greater  number  of  things,  they  are  called 
number-forms. 

The  form  that  indicates  one  is  called  the  SINGULAR  form  ( or 
"  singular  number," )  and  the  form  that  indicates  more  than  one 
is  called  the  PLURAL  form  (or  " plural  number  "  ). 

Note. — The  word  "  singular  "  comes  from  single,  meaning  one.  While  the 
word  "  plural  "  is  derived  from  plus,  meaning  more. 

129.  The  usual  or  regular  way  of  making  the  plural  form  of 
nouns  is  by  adding  s  or  es  to  the  singular  form. 

(a)  Examples  of  plurals  formed  by  adding  s:    boat,  boats;  field,  fields  ; 
day,  days. 

( b )  Nouns  whose  plurals  are  formed  by  adding  es  belong  to  two  groups  : 

1.  Words  ending  with  the  sound  of  .s  (soft),  x  or  z;  as,  dress,   dresses; 
ax,  axes  ;  friz,  frizes.     [  The  word  '  ox '  is  an  exception,  the  plural  being  oxen^\ 

2.  Words  ending  with  the  sound  of  ch  or  sh  ;  as,  bench,  benches ;  gash,  gashes. 

(c)  Some  words  ending  with  o  form  the  plural   by  adding  es ;  as,  motto, 
mottoes;  potato,  potatoes ;  others   (particularly  musical  terms )  ending  with  o 
add  only  s;  as,  piano,  pianos  ;  banjo,  banjos. 

130.  Irregular  Plural  Forms. — While   most  of   our  nouns 
form  their  plurals  in  the  regular  way,  ( by  adding  s  or  es, )  others 
form  them  irregularly,  that  is,  by  some  other  change  in  the  form 
of  the  word.     Of  these  last,  there  are  the  following  groups : 

1.  Most  nouns  ending  with  f  or  fe,  change  f  to  v,  and  then  add  s  or  es , 
as,  half,  halves  ;  life,  lives  ;  knife,  knives.     But  some  words  ending  with  f  or  fe 
form  the  plural  in  the  regular  way,  that  is,  by  adding  only  s  to  the  singular, 
without  changing  the/;  thus,  chiefs,  gulfs,  strifes. 

2.  Many  nouns  ending  with  y,  and  having  a  consonant  letter  before  the  yy 
change  the  y  into  /,  and  add  es  ;  as,  city,  cities  ;  fly,  flies  ;  etc. ;  but  if  the  y  has 
a  vowel  (a,  e,  i,  o,  or  u,)  before  it,  the  plural  is  regularly   formed  by  adding 
only  s  without  changing  the  y  ;  as,  day,  days ;  boy,  boys ;  turkey,  turkeys. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  55 

3.  A  few  words  form  their  plurals  by  a  change  in  the  middle  of  the  wordj 
as,  man,  men ;  tooth,  teeth ;  mouse,  mice.  These  words  are  said  to  form  their 
plurals  irregularly.  Similar  to  them  are,  brother,  brethren  ;  child,  children. 

131.  The  plurals  of  letters,  figures,  and  signs  are  indicated  by 
an  apostrophe  and  the  letter  s  ( 's) ;  as — 

Learn  the  y's  and  9's.  Dot  your  i's  and  cross  your  t's,  and  do  not  make  the 
n's  and  u's,  the  3*3  and  5's,  and  the  -J-'s  and  x's  so  much  alike. 

132.  There  are  some  nouns  that   do   not  have  a  number-form,  the  same 
form  being  used  to  denote  one  or  several  of  the  same   objects ;  as,  sheep,  trout, 
deer.     Others  always  have  a  plural  form,   but  a  singular  meaning ;  as,  shears, 
ashes,  clothes. 

[  For  the  plurals  of  proper  nouns,  titles,  and  compound  nouns,  see  360.  ] 

133.  Write  the  following  nouns  in  a  column,  then  beside  them, 
in  another  column,  write  the  plurals  of  those  that  have  a  plural 
form.     When  the  plural  of  a  noun  is  not  formed  in  the  regular 
way,  tell  which  exception  it  comes  under. 

Chair,  fife,  class,  inch,  pass,  table,  dish,  salmon,  shelf,  wife,  frame,  draft, 
dash,  wrench,  cashier,  window,  sky,  alley,  ally,  deputy,  toy,  woman,  grass, 
enemy,  towel,  hose,  roof,  heathen,  soprano,  boy,  neighbor,  ship,  mumps,  shoe, 
leaf,  girl,  sheaf,  tax,  cargo,  tomato,  theory,  molasses,  chimney,  handful,  wages, 
artery,  spoonful,  veto,  bucketful,  door,  Englishman,  Mexican,  victuals,  measles, 
daughter-in-law,  son-in-law,  man-of-war,  Miss  Allen,  Mr.  Green  and  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, attorney-at-law.  [  Keep  this  list  for  future  use.  ] 

134.  As  already  mentioned  (642  a),  a  few  nouns  are  changed 
in  form  to  distinguish  the  feminine  (  female )  sex  from  the  mascu- 
line ( male  )  sex.     The  feminine  form  of  these  words  is  generally 
made  by  the  addition  of  ess  as  a  suffix  to  the  masculine  word. 

Examples  :    Prince,  princess  ;  heir,  heiress ;  poet,  poetess ;  waiter,  waitress. 

Remark. — As  this  class  of  words  is  small  and  becoming  smaller,  the  change 
in  their  form  to  denote  sex  is  of  little  or  no  importance.  With  the  more  com- 
mon of  them,  especially  those  denoting  occupations,  what  we  have  called  the 
masculine  form,  as  poet,  waiter,  actor,  tailor,  doctor,  etc.,  is  now  much  used  for 
both  sexes.  ( 361. ) 

135.  Possessive  Form. — Another  change  is  made  in  the  form 
of  nouns  when  we  wish  to  show   who   or  what  owns  ( or  '  pos- 
sesses ' )  a  thing.     Thus,  we  write — 


56  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

(a)  John's  hat,  the  boy's  slate,  the  man's  arm,  the  clerk's  salary. 

(b)  Mr.  Bell's  farm,  Mr.  Willis's  store,  Mrs.  Adams's  daughter. 

(c)  Those  girls'  dresses  are  pretty;  the  clerks'  salaries  were  increased. 

( d)  The  soldiers'  reunion  ;  the  Teachers'  Association  ;  Odd  Fellows'  Hall. 

And  because  this  foi;m  of  the  noun  denotes  possession,  it  is 
called  fat  possessive  form.  [  Or,  possessive  "  case."  See  362.] 

Note. — The  possessive  form  of  a  noun  is  used  adjectively  to  limit  the  com- 
mon form  of  another  noun. 

Notice — in  (a)  and  (b)  above — that  the  possessive  form  is  made  by  adding 
the  apostrophe  and  the  letter  s  ('s)  to  singular  nounc.  When  the  noun  is 
plural,  ending  in  s,  only  the  apostrophe  is  added  as  shown  in  (c)  and  (d). 

When  plural  nouns  do  not  end  with  s,  their  posessive  forms  are  made  by 
adding  the  apostrophe  the  same  as  singular  nouns;  as,  'They  sell  men's  and 
children's  clothing.' 

'.  136.  Joint  and  Separate  Possession.— When  we  wish  to  show  that 
a  thing  belongs  to  two  or  more  persons  who  are  joint  owners  of  it,  we  add  the 
possessive  sign  to  the  last  word  only  ;  thus — 

Mason  &  Hamlin's  organs ;  lyee  &  Shepard's  price  list ;  Fenton,  Fell  &  Co.'s 
store. 

( a )  Separate  Possession. — If  it  is  separate  ownership  that  we  wish  to  de- 
note, we  place  the  possessive  sign  after  each  name  ;  as,  Shaw's  audDavis's  pianos, 
Lee's  and  Grant's  armies. 

137.  Possessive  Phrases. — The    possessive  sign    with  a  noun-phrase 
( 65' )  is  added  to  the  last  word  ;  thus — 

The  Queen  of  England's  body-guard ;  my  brother-in-law's  house ;  the  sergeant- 
at-arm's  pay. 

[For  the  possessive  of  nouns  in  apposition,  see  363.  ] 

138.  Instead  of  using  the  possessive  forms  of  the  names  of 
inanimate  ( '  without  life  ' )  things,  we  generally  denote  possession, 
or  '  belonging  to,'  by  a  phrase  ;  thus,  we  say — 

'  The  legs  of  the  chair,'  instead  of  '  the  chair's  legs ; ' 

1  The  tail  of  his  coat,'  instead  of  '  his  coat's  tail ; 

'  The  hands  of  the  clock,'  instead  of  ' the  clock's  hands.' 

Take  the  list  of  words  prepared  according  to  the  instruc- 
tions in  paragraph  133,  and  add  the  sign  of  possession  to  both 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  57 

the  singular  and  plural  forms  of  all  those  that  will  admit  of  a 
possessive  form  to  modify  a  noun. 

Example :  The  cashier's  desk,  the  cashiers'  desks ;  the  shelf's  edge,  the 
shelves'  edges. 

Note. — When  the  possessive  form  gives  an  awkward  construction,  as  in  the 
last  example,  change  it  to  a  possessive  phrase  ;  as,  the  edge  of  the  shelf,  the 
edges  of  the  shelves. 

139.  Instead  of  using  two  possessive  forms  together,  it  is  better  to  change 
one  of  them  into  a  phrase;  thus,  "  My  friend's  father's  farm,"  should  be,  "The 
farm  of  my  friend's  father,"  or  "  The  farm  owned  by  my  friend's  father." 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  plural  and  possessive  forms  in  the 
following : 

I.  The  man's  hand  was  caught  in  the  machine's  wheels.  2.  The  baby's  foots 
were  burned.  3.  The  clerks  salarys  have  been  paid.  4.  The  churchs'  doors  are 
open  to  you.  5.  The  rakes  tooths  were  broken.  6.  The  ships  sailes  were  rent. 
7.  The  hunter's  dogs'  foots  were  hurt  by  the  traps'  teeths.  8.  The  notes'  face 
was  paid.  9.  The  factorys  have  been  closed.  10.  The  ministers  childs  are  both 
sick.  ii.  Boys  hats  are  sold  here.  12.  Henrys  slate  was  broken.  13.  They  paid 
him  for  a  weeks  work.  14.  A  full  line  of  gentlemens  furnishings  always  on 
hand.  15.  Webster  and  Worcesters'  dictionaries,  16.  Barnum's  and  Baileys' 
show. 


LESSON  2O. 

PRONOUN-FORMS. 

140.  Number  Form.— A  part  of  our  pronouns,  like  nouns, 
have  a  number-form  to  show  whether  we  mean  one  or  more  than 
one.  To  illustrate,  let  us  take  the  simple  personal  pronouns,  (80.) 

FIRST  PERSON.          SECOND    PERSON.          THIRD  PERSON. 

Singular  /,  you,  he,  she,  it. 

Plural  we,  you,  they. 

Notice  that  the  pronoun  you  does  not  have  a  plural  form  different  from  the 
singular,  and  that  the  third  person  pronouns,  he,  she,  and  it,  have  the  same 
plural  form.  Thus,  in  speaking  of  one  man,  we  say  he,  but  in  speaking  of  two 


68  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

or  more,  we  say  they.  In  speaking  of  one  woman  we  say  she,  and  when  refer- 
ring  to  two  or  more  women,  we  say  they.  In  the  same  manner,  it  refers  to  one 
object,  but  when  we  refer  to  more  than  one  object,  we  say  they. 

141.  Possessive  Form. — Like  nouns,  the  pronouns  have  also 
a  possessive  form,  which  we  use  to  show  that  an  object  belongs 
to  such  and  such  a  person  or  thing ;  as,  my  coat,  our  eyes,  your 
task,   her  book,  his  home,  its  foot,  their  hands.     [  See  81  a.  ] 

142.  With  the  exception  of  his,  the  possessive  forms  given 
above  are  always  followed  by  the  noun  which  they  limit,  hence 
they  are  sometimes  called  possessive  adjectives. 

( a )  But  the  following  possessive   forms  are  used  by    themselves  :     mine, 
ours,  yours,  hers,  theirs,  and  ( sometimes )  his,  and  whose. 

One  peculiar  thing  about  these  last  possessive  forms  is  that  they  can  be  used 
as  either  subjects  or  objects,  or  in  the  predicate.  This  is  because  they  represent 
both  the  possessor  ( owner )  and  the  thing  possessed  ;  as — 

Hers  is  the  best;     These  books  are  hers  ;    I  sold  mine ; 
What  did  you  give  for  yours?     Whose  is  it?    It  is  his. 

(b)  Mine  and  thine  were  formerly  much  used  as  possessive  adjectives,  es- 
pecially in  the  Bible  and  other  sacred  writing,  poems,  etc.     They  are  still  some- 
times used  in  poetry  and  solemn  address. 

Examples:     " Thine  shall  be  the  glory  forever  and  ever." 

"  Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory  of  the  coming  of  the  L,ord." 

143.  Object  Form.— Pronouns    have     another     form    which 
nouns  do  not  have.     A  noun  has  the  same  form  when  we  use  it  as 
the  object  of  a  verb  or  preposition  that  it  has  when  used  for  the 
subject ;  but  with  pronouns  it  is  not  so,  at  least  with  a  part  of 
them  it  is  not,  for  some  of  them  have  a  different  form  when  they 
are  used  as  objects ;  as — 

I  like  him.  He  likes  me.  She  came  to  us.  We  went  to  her.  They  saw  you. 
You  saw  them.  They  lost  it.  It  was  good  for  them. 

(a)  Since  the  forms  me,  him,  her,  us,  them,  are  used  as  the  ob- 
jects of  verbs  denoting  action  or  possession,  or  after  prepositions, 
they  are  called  object  forms,  or  objective  forms.  (48  and  81.) 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  59 

Remark.  —  Notice  that  her  is  both  objective  and  possessive  (141),  and  that  you 
and  it  have  no  object-form  ;  that  is,  they  have  the  same  form  for  objects  that 
they  have  for  subjects.  (  362  b.  ) 

(b)  Besides  the  five  personal  pronouns,  there  is  only  one 
pronoun  that  has  an  object  form,  and  that  is  the  relative  who.  Its 
object  form  is  whom.  It  has  also  a  possessive  form,  whose.  (82  a.) 

Remark.  —  We  have  seen  (  17)  that  pronouns,  as  well  as  nouns,  may  be  used 
with  copula  verbs  to  make  a  predicate.  When  so  used,  they  have  the  same  form 
that  they  have  when  used  for  the  subject.  So  the  subject  forms  and  predi- 
cate forms  of  pronouns  are  the  same. 


We  have,  then,  the  following  object  forms  :  me,  us,  her, 
him,  them,  and  whom,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  subject  and 
predicate  forms,  /,  we,  he,  she,  they,  and  who. 

You  will  not  find  it  very  difficult  to  use  these  last  forms  cor- 
rectly, but  most  persons  make  mistakes  by  using  object  forms 
where  they  should  use  the  subject  and  predicate  forms.  They 
will  say  — 

'  It  was  me,'  «  It  is  him,'  '  It  was  not  her/  '  It  isn't  them,' 

when  they  should  say  — 

'  It  was  I,'   '  It  is  he,'  '  It  was  not  she,'  '  It  isn't  they.' 

Remember  that  the  subject  and  predicate  forms  are  alike.    •  , 
Correct  the  mistakes  in  the  following  sentences  : 

Me  and  him  go  to  the  same  school.     I  knew  it  was  her. 

It  was  me  and  him  who  made  the  mistake. 

Are  you  sure  it  was  them  ?    Who  told  you  it  was  us  ? 

Remember  that  the  object  forms  should  be  used  after  preposi- 
tions, and  after  verbs  denoting  action  or  possession. 
Correct  the  mistakes  in  the  following  : 

You  and  her  ought  to  have  gone  with  we. 
They  came  expecting  to  see  you  and  I. 

[  For  further  practice,  see  paragraph  234.] 

(a)  The  compounds  formed  by  adding  the  word  self  (plural  selves)  to  my, 
our,  your,  him,  her,  it,  and  them  (671),  are  sometimes  used  as  objects  in  a 
peculiar  way.  (  2  18  b.  ) 


«0  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

(b)  Other  compounds  are  made  by  combining  the  relatives  who  and  which  and 
the  indefinite  what,  with  ever  or  soever  ;  as,  whoever,  whatever. 

Form  all  the  compounds  you  can  with  the  words  given  above,  using  each  one 
in  a  sentence  constructed  off-hand. 

Point  out  all  the  personal  pronouns  in  the  fable  in  para- 
graph 162,  and  tell  whether  they  have  the  common  (subject  and 
predicate )  form,  the  object  form,  or  the  possessive  form. 


LESSON  21. 

FORMS  OF  ADJECTIVES  AND  ADVERBS. 

145.  Comparison. — Adjectives  are  changed  in  form  to  show 
different  degrees  of  quality  ;  as — 

Brave,  braver,  bravest ;  sweet,  sweeter,  sweetest ;  sharp,  sharper,  sharpest. 

Thus,  we  say — 

'  The  brave  soldier ; '  '  the  sweet  apple  ; '  *  the  sharp  knife.' 

But  if  we  wish  to  compare  others  of  the  same  kind  with  these 
objects,  we  say — 

'  A  braver  soldier  ; '  '  a  sweeter  apple ; '  '  a  sharper  knife.' 

Again,  comparing  an  object  with  all  others  of  its  kind,  we  say — 

'  The  bravest  soldier; '  '  the  sweetest  apple; '  '  the  sharpest  knife.' 

146.  This  change  in  the  form  of  adjectives,  to  compare  one 
thing  with   another,  or  one  thing  with  all  others  of  the  same 
kind,  we  call  COMPARISON. 

(a)  The  simple  form  of  the  adjective   is  called  the  positive  degree;  as — 
brave,  sweet,  sharp. 

( b )  The  form  made  by  adding  r  or  er  is  the  comparative  degree ;  as — 
braver,  sweeter,  sharper. 

(c)  The  form   made  by  adding  st  or  est  is  the  superlative  degree;  as— 
bravest,  sweetest,  sharpest.     ( Superlative  means  '  highest.' ) 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  61 

( d)  Adjectives  ending  with  y  change  y  into  i  and  then  add  er  and  est  to 
form  the  comparative  and  superlative  degrees ;  as,  lazy,  lazier,  laziest. 

147.  Comparison  by  Phrases.— The  foregoing  rules  apply  chiefly  to 
words  of  one  syllable.     Most  adjectives  of  two  or  more  syllables,  and  especially 
those  ending  with  ly,  are  not  compared  by  a  change  of  form.     Such  adjectives 
form  their  comparative  degree  by  prefixing  more,  and  the  superlative  degree 
by  prefixing  most,  to   the   positive   degree ;  thus,  careful,  more  careful,  most 
careful. 

{ a )  Descending  Comparison. — Sometimes  adjectives  are  given  a  de- 
scending ('going  down')  comparison  by  means  of  phrases  formed  by  pre- 
fixing less  and  least  to  the  positive  degree  ;  as,  careful,  less  careful,  least  careful. 
Prefixing  less  gives  the  comparative  degree — a  degree  lower  than  the  positive  ; 
but  prefixing  least  does  not  give  the  superlative  degree,  for  superlative  ( from 
super-  '  above  ; '  lative,  'to  carry,')  means  'carried  to  the  highest  degree,'  while 
least  expresses  the  lowest  degree.  Instead  of  calling  this  lowest  degree  '  super- 
lative,' we  shall  call  it  the  sublative  (sub- '  under '  or  '  below; '  lative,  'to  carry.') 

148.  The    following    adjectives     are    irregularly   compared: 
\Commii  to  memory.^ 

POSITIVE.  COMPARATIVE.  SUPERLATIVE. 

good,  better,  best. 

bad,  ) 

ill^      C  worse,  worst. 

evil,  J 

little,  less,  least. 

much,  i 

\  more,  most, 

many,  J 

Remarks. — Old,  late,  and  near,  are  sometimes  given  an  irregular  comparison  ; 
thus — elder,  eldest ;  latter,  last ;  nearer,  next. 

There  are  a  few  other  irregular  comparisons  in  which  the  comparative  and 
superlative  degrees  are  based  upon  an  adverb  or  a  noun  representing  the  posi- 
tive, the  superlative  being  generally  made  by  the  suffix  most. 

Examples :  Up,  upper,  uppermost ;  in,  inner,  inmost  or  innermost ;  under 
( no  comparative ),  undermost;  top  (no  comparative),  topmost. 

149.  Some  adjectives  do  not  admit  comparison;*  as, — full, 
empty,  level,  round,  square,  universal,  supreme,  infinite. 

Form  the  comparatives  and  superlatives  or  sublatives  of  the  following: 
Short,  old,  heavy,  long,  wavy,  sad,  happy,  quiet,  smooth,  sly,  rough,  cute,  fre- 
quently, cold,  rapidly,  warm,  savage,  angry,  course,  dull,  stingy,  close,  light, 
sensitive,  hasty,  nice,  business-like,  gracious,  shrewd,  intelligent,  thoughtful. 


*  Except  by  a  sort  of  "  poetic  license,"  not  admissible  in  ordinary,  every-day  speech. 


62  PLAIN  ENGLISH. 

Note.— Never  use  the  phrase  and  suffix  forms  of  comparison  together  ;  as, 
more  carefuller,  less  carefuller  ;  most  laziest,  least  laziest ;  more  happier,  less 
happier  ;  most  happiest,  least  happiest.  This  is  called  "double  comparison." 

Correct  the  following: 

i.  I  never  saw  a  more  honester  man,  and  he  is  the  most  hardest  worker  in 
town.  2.  A  more  pleasanter  face.  3.  The  most  miserablest  person.  4.  A  less 
abler  lawyer.  5.  The  most  wisest  judge.  6.  The  least  severest  storm  of  the 
season.  [For  further  practice,  see  paragraph  244.] 

150.  Two  adjectives,  this  and  that,  have  a  change  of  form  to  agree  with  the 
number  of  the  nouns  they  limit.    Thus,  we  say — 

This  book,  these  books  ;  that  building,  those  buildings.     [  See  245.  ] 

( a )  The  adjective  an  ( indefinite  article )  changes  its  form  to  suit  the  first 
sound  of  the  word  following  it,  when  that  word  begins  with  a  consonant  sound. 
Thus,  we  say — 

An  ox,  an  apple,  an  egg,  an  officer,  an  heir,  an  infant,  an  excuse ; 

and  in  each  of  these  cases  you  will  notice  that  the  word  following  an  begins 
with  a  vowel  sound.  But  when  we  use  this  '  article  '  before  words  beginning 
with  a  consonant  sound,  we  drop  the  n  ;  thus — 

A  man,  a  variety,  a  citizen,  a  position,  a  letter,  a  bookkeeper.     [  See  245  a.  ] 

ADVERBS. 

151.  A  few  adverbs  are  compared  the  same  as  adjectives. 

The  following  form  the  comparative  and  superlative  degrees  in 
the  regular  way,  by  adding  r,  er  ;  st,  est;  soon,  early,  late,  often, 
fast.  Most  adverbs  ending  with  ly  express  their  comparative  and 
superlative  or  sublative  degrees  by  prefixing  more  and  most; 
as,  easily,  gladly,  quickly,  bravely,  formerly,  roughly. 

The  following  adverbs  are  compared  irregularly :    [  Memorize.  ] 


POSITIVE. 

COMPARATIVE. 

SUPERLATIVE. 

well, 

better, 

best. 

badly, 

worse, 

worst. 

f  further, 

furthest. 

far, 

I  farther, 

farthest. 

little, 

less, 

least. 

much, 

more, 

most. 

. — Further  means  '  more  ; '  farther  has  reference  to  distance. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  63 

LESSON  22. 

VERB-FORMS. 

152.  Number- Form.— We  have  already  seen  that  when  the 
subject  is  changed  from  the  singular  to  the  plural  form,  the  verb 
is  changed  to  agree  with  it.     And  since  the  plural  form  of  the 
verb  asserts  the  same  action,  possession,  or  existence  that  the 
singular  form  does,  the  change  in  the  verb-form  is  made  for  no 
other  reason  than  to  make  it  agree  with  the  subject.     ( 127. ) 

The  verb  itself  cannot  express  number;  but  since  it  must 
change  its  form  to  agree  with  the  number  of  the  subject,  we 
speak  of  it  as  having  singular  and  plural  forms. 

153.  Unlike   nouns,   verbs   (except  the   copulas)    get  their 
singular  from  the  plural  form.     The  plural  form  of  a  verb  is  its 
simplest  form  ;  and  because  all  its  other  forms  are  derived  from 
it,  this  plural  form  is  called  the  root-form.     The  singular  form  is 
made  by  adding  s  or  es  to  the  plural,  changing  final  y  preceded 
by  a  consonant  into  i  before  making  the  addition. 

Example :  The  flowers  bloom, — the  flower  blooms ;  men  go, — the  man  goes ; 
birds  fly, — the  bird  flies  ;  merchants  buy  and  sell, — the  merchant  buys  and  sells. 

Have,  which  denotes  possession,  has  an  irregular  singular  form, — has.  The 
copula  verbs  form  their  plurals  irregularly ;  thus — 

SINGULAR,  be,  am,  is,  was ;  PLURAI,,  are,  were. 

In  the  sentences  in  paragraph  36,  change  the  singular  subjects 
to  the  plural  form  and  the  plural  to  singular  forms,  changing  the 
verb-form  in  each  case  accordingly.  Do  the  same  with  the  sen- 
tences at  (£),  paragraph  40. 

Notice  that  when  the  plural  we  is  changed  to  the  singular  7,  the  form  of  the 
verb  remains  unchanged  except  when  the  verb  is  are  or  were. 

Correct  the  following  errors : 

i.  The  boys  is  very  careless.  2.  The  girls  was  glad.  3.  We  was  there  first. 
4.  The  clerks  earns  their  wages.  5.  They  was  not  invited.  6.  Good  book- 
keepers is  well  paicj.  7.  The  clouds  has  disappeared.  [See  249 for  further  practice.] 


64  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

154.  When  either  who,  which,  or  that  is  the  subject  of  a  rela- 
tive clause,  the  verb  must  agree  in  number  with  the  antecedent 
of  the  relative.      But  when  who,  which,  and  what  are  used  in 
asking  questions,  the  number-form  of  the  verb  will  depend  upon 
whether  the  question  is  asked  about  one  thing  or  more  than  one. 

Correct  the  following : 

Bvery  man  that  are  guilty  should  be  punished. 
The  people  who  is  sick  need  sympathy. 
Can  you  name  the  boys  who  was  there  ? 
[For  further  practice,  see  paragraphs  251  and  252  ] 

155.  If  two  or  more  nouns  or  pronouns  of  singular  form  are 
joined  by  and  to  form  a  compound  subject,  the  plural  form  of  the 
verb  should  be  used ;  thus — 

John  and  Henry  were  chosen.     Silver  and  gold  are  precious  metals. 

Correct  the  following : 

He  and  James  was  there.  The  boy  and  his  father  is  sick.  Iron,  tin,  and  cop" 
per  is  important  articles  of  commerce. 

[For further  practice,  and  other  facts  about  the  agreement  of  the  verb  with 
compound  subjects,  see  paragraph  250.  ] 

156.  The  mistakes  made  in  the  use  of  verbs  are  largely  due 
to  getting  the  plural  form  of  the  verb  confused  with  the  plural 
form  of  the  noun.     Having  found  that  nouns  form  their  plurals 
by   adding  s  or  es,  we  are  apt  to  use  this  s  or  es  form  for  the 
plurals  of  verbs  also.     But  you  will  notice  that  verbs  are  just  the 
opposite  of  nouns  in  this  respect.     ( 129  and  153. ) 

(  a )  Use  each  of  the  following  verbs  correctly  in  a  short  sen- 
tence, and  tell  which  have  the  singular  and  which  plural  forms ; 
do  not  use  the  pronoun  /  for  a  subject : 

Walks,  leaps,  strikes,  go,  falls,  shines,  do,  sell,  buys,  repeat,  rejoice,  cries, 
talks,  live,  sings,  write,  teach,  catches,  watch,  learns,  look,  grows. 

157.  Person-Form. — When  /  is  used  for  the  subject  of  verbs 
of  action  or  possession,  the  plural  form  of  the  verb  should  be 
used  just  the  same  as  with  the  plurals  we,  you,  and  they ;  as — 

We  look.     You  look.     They  look.     I  look.     They  have.     I  have. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  65 

158.  Since  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  verb  takes  the  plural  form  to  make 
it  agree  with  the  singular  subject  /,   the  form  that  it  takes  in   this  case  is 
really  not  the  number-form  but  a  person-form.     Hence,  we  may  say  that  verbs 
have  a  person-form  to  agree  with  the  pronoun  of  the  first  person  singular  num- 
ber ;  and  this  first-person  form  is  the  plural  form  of  the  verb. 

159.  There  is,  however,  one  verb  of  which  it  is  not  true  that  the  plural 
form  is  used  with  /.     This  word  is  be,  and  it  has  a  distinct  form  ( am)  for  the 
pronoun  /.     Be  is  the  most  troublesome  word  in  our  language.     From  it  are 
derived  five  copulas  in  common  use  :    Am,  is,  are,  was,  and  were.     ( 364. ) 

The  copula  verbs  (except  be),  with  the  different  persons  and  numbers,  are 
shown  by  the  following  table  :     [  Commit  to  memory.  ] 

(a)          PRESENT  TIME.  (3)  PAST  TIME. 

Singular.  Singular. 

1.  I  am — sad.  I.     I  was — sad. 

2.  You  are — glad.  2.    You  were — glad. 

3.  He  is — mad.  3.     He  was — mad. 

Plural.  Plural. 

1.  We  are — sad.  i.  We  were — sad. 

2.  You  are — glad.  2.  You  were — glad. 

3.  They  are — mad.  3.  They  were — mad. 

Tell  which  of  the  verbs  in  the  sentences  in  paragraph  95  have 
the  singular  form  and  which  the  plural  form. 


LESSON   23. 

VERB-FORMS— CONTINUED. 

160.  Time-Form.— The  copula  verbs  in  the  last  lesson  were 
arranged  in  two  columns,  (  a )  and  (  b ) .  Those  in  the  left-hand 
column  mean  now,  therefore  they  are  headed  PRESENT  TIME. 
Those  in  the  right-hand  column  mean  time  that  has  passed,  there- 
fore they  are  headed  PAST  TIME.  For  instance,  if  we  say — 

'  I  am  sad,'  '  You  are  glad,'  *  He,  she,  or  it,  is  mad,'  '  We  are  sad,'  etc., 

the  form  of  the  verb  shows  that  now  is  when  I,  you,  she,  it,  we, 
and  they,  are  glad,  sad,  or  mad.     But  when  we  say — 

'  I  was  sad,'   « You  were  glad,'  '  He  was  mad,'    '  We  were  sad,'    '  They  were,'  etc., 


66  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

the  forms  of  the  verb,  was  and  were,  show  that  the  time  of  our 
sadness,  gladness,  and  madness,  is  not  now,  but  that  it  has  passed. 

(a)  The  difference  in  the  forms  of  the  verb  in  the  first  column 
is  not  made  to  show  difference  of  time,  for  am,  are,  and  is,  alike 
express  present  time.  Am  and  is  differ  from  each  other  because 
they  denote  different  persons ;  while  are  differs  from  both  of 
them  because  it  is  plural  in  form  to  agree  with  its  subject. 

But  in  the  second  column,  (b\  am  and  is  are  changed  to  was, 
and  are  is  changed  to  were,  to  denote  a  different  time.  So  then, 
was  and  were  are  changes  of  the  verb  be,  to  express  past  time. 

161.  The  simple  ( '  root ' )  form  of  a  verb  when  used  by  itself, 
( that  is,  when  not  combined  with  other  verbs  in  verb-phrases ) 
denotes  present  time.     When  we  wish  to  express  past  time,  we 
do  it  by  making  a  change  in  the  form  of  the  verb  ;  thus — 

r  /,  we,  you,  they, — hope,  wait,  run,  see,  sleep,  spend. 
PRESENT  TIME.  \  He^  shg^  ,v>_i10pes>  waits,  runs,  sees,  sleeps,  spends. 

f  I.  he.  she.  it*  ) 
PAST  TIME,          {   fre,  *yoUt  theyt  }  -hoped,  waited,  ran,  saw,  slept,  spent. 

Notice  that  the  past  time  form  is  not  always  made  in  the  same 
way.  In  the  first  word,  it  is  made  by  adding  d  to  the  root,  hope, 
forming  hoped.  In  the  second,  it  is  formed  by  adding  ed  to  wait, 
giving  waited.  The  next  two  are  formed  by  a  change  of  the 
vowel  in  the  middle  of  the  word:  run,  ran;  see,  saw.  The  fifth 
is  formed  by  dropping  one  of  the  vowels  and  adding  /  at  the 
close.  The  last  is  formed  by  changing  final  d  to  /. 

Note. — These  two  time-forms  of  verbs  are  usually  called  their  present  and 
past  "  tenses."  Tense,  from  tempus,  means  '  time,'— the  time  of  being,  action,  or 
possession.  These  two  are  the  only  tenses  that  a  verb  has.  ( 173  and  180-1-2. ) 

162.  Verbs  whose  past  forms  are  made  by  simply  adding  d  or 
ed  to  the  root-form,  like  hope  and  wait,  are  said  to  form  them 
"  regularly,"  and  are  called  REGULAR  VERBS.     Verbs  whose  past 
time  forms  are  not  made  by  adding  d  or  ed  to  the  root-form  are 
said  to  be  IRREGULAR  VERBS.     These  irregular  verbs  form  their 
past  time  is  the  following  ways ; 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  67 

1.  By  change  in  the  vowel  letter  ;  as,  ride,  rode ;  sing,  sang ;  come,  came, 

2.  By  dropping  final  vowel ;  as,  bite,  bit ;  hide,  hid. 

3.  By  changing  final  letter  or  letters  ;  as,  send,  sent ;  lose,  lost. 

4.  By  dropping  vowel  from  middle  ;  as,  lead,  led ;  feed,  fed. 

5.  By  changing  the  vowel  and  final  letters ;  as,  bring,  brought. 

6.  By  changing  the  vowel  sound  and  adding  t  or  d ;  as,  feel,  felt ;  deal,  dealt; 
flee,  fled.     Do  changes  the  vowel  letter  and  adds  d. 

163.  Other  Irregular  Forms. — Be,  as  we  have  already  noticed,  is 
irregular,  having  was  and  were  for  its  past  forms. 

(a )     Go  takes  a  different  word  for  its  past  time, — went. 

(d)  Five  verbs,  shall,  will,  can,  may,  and  must,  are  frequently  used  in 
forming  verb-phrases.  The  first  four  of  them  have  irregular  past  forms,  as 
follow:  should,  would,  could,  and  might. 

Must  has  no  past  time  form,  though  it  is  sometimes  used  in  verb-phrases  ex- 
pressing past  time. 

Shall  and  will  express  future  time. 

Should  and  would  are  used  in  phrases  denoting  present  as  well  as  past  time. 

( c )  About  twenty- five  verbs  have  the  same  form  for  past  that  they  have  for 
present  time.     Examples  :     Beat,  put,  spread.     [  See  329,  Note  i.  ] 

( d)  Some  verbs  have  both  regular  and  irregular  forms  to  denote  past  time  ; 
as,  dream,  dreamt  or  dreamed ;  sweep,  swept  or  sweeped.     [  329,  Note  2.  ] 

(e)  Two  verbs,  beware  and  begone^  have  no  past  forms,  while  quoth  ( now 
obsolete  except  in  poetry )  is  used  only  in  the  past  time.      ( 330. ) 

Turn  to  the  list  of  irregular  verbs  (329)  and  go  over  it  care- 
fully, telling  in  which  of  the  above-mentioned  ways  each  verb 

forms  its  past  time.     [Correct  the  errors  in  paragraph  258.] 


LESSON   24. 

VERB-FORMS.— CONCLUDED. 


In  the  last  two  lessons,  we  have  learned  about  the  number- 
forms,  the  time-forms,  and  the  first-person  form  of  verbs, — the 
first-person  form  being  the  same  as  the  plural  forms  of  all  verbs 
except  be,  which  has  am  for  the  pronoun  /. 


68  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

164.  Yerbals. — There  are  no  other  real  verb-forms,  but  there 
are  two  other  changes  made  in  the  form  of  a  verb  when  it  ceases 
to  assert  and  becomes,  in  part,  another  part-of-speech. 

Catching  trout  is  fine  sport. 

I  always  enjoy  catching  trout. 

We  were  engaged  in  catching  trout 

In  each  of  these  sentences  the  word  (  catching '  ( from  the  verb 
'  catch  '  )  is  used  as  a  noun  :  In  the  first,  as  the  subject ;  in  the 
second,  as  the  object  of  the  verb  '  enjoy ; '  in  the  third,  as  the  ob- 
ject of  the  preposition  *  in.'  But  there  is  one  way  in  which  this 
word  ( catching '  differs  from  the  ordinary  noun.  It  has  an 
object, — '  trout.'  Now,  as  a  noun  never  takes  an  object,  it  is  plain 
that  catching  must  be  partly  a  verb  and  partly  a  noun.  And 
such,  in  fact,  is  the  case.  It  is  a  verbal-noun, — a  verb  used  as 
a  noun  but  keeping  (in  part  at  least)  its  verb  nature.  (365.) 

( a )  It  was  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey. 

In  this  sentence,  the  word  (  flowing  '  ( from  the  verb  *  flow ' ) 
qualifies  the  noun  *  land,'  thus  doing  the  work  of  an  adjective. 
At  the  same  time,  flowing  takes  the  usual  adverb  modifier  of  a 
verb,  the  phrase  *  with  milk  and  honey,'  answering  how  ?  There- 
fore flowing  is  a  verbal-adjective. 

(b)  He  came  dashing  through  the  crowd  as  fast  as  he  could  run. 

In  this  sentence,  dashing  (from  ' dash ' )  is  an  adverb,  telling  how 

he  came.'     At  the  same  time,  it  takes  the  modifier  of  a  verb,  the 

adverbial  phrase,  *  through  the  crowd,' — answering  where  ?  and 

the  adverbial  clause,  '  as  fast  as  he  could  run,' — answering  how  f 

Hence,  it  is  a  verbal-adverb. 

165.  Participles. — These    VERBALS     (verbal-nouns,    verbal- 
adjectives,   and   verbal-adverbs)    partake  of  the   nature  of  two 
parts  of  speech  at  the  same  time.     Hence,  they  are  called  PAR- 
TICIPLES.    (Participle  means  '  a  partaker.'  ) 

166.  A  verb  has  two  participles ;  one  called  "  imperfect  "  (or 
active},  the  other,  "perfect"  (or passive.) 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  69 

(a)  The  imperfect  participle  always  ends  in  ing.  It  expresses 
action,  existence,  or  possession,  as  going  on,  or  continuing  ( that 
is,  action,  etc.,  not  perfect — c  complete  ' )  at  the  time  mentioned 
in  the  sentence.  This  participle  has  been  fully  illustrated  in  the 
sentences  given  above.  (164.) 

Remarks. — Because  it  represents  action,  etc.,  as  continuing  at  the  time  men- 
tioned in  the  sentence,  the  imperfect  participle  is  also  called  the  '  present,'  or 
active  participle,  and  we  shall  hereafter  refer  to  it  by  the  latter  name. 

The  active  participles  that  may  have  objects  are  those  derived  from  transitive 
verbs.  ( 99. )  Examples :  Catching •,  lifting,  bringing. 

(b)  The  perfect  participle  always  expresses  action,  etc.,  as 
perfected  ( (  completed  ' )  at  the  time  mentioned  in  the  sentence. 
It  is  formed  by  adding  d  or  ed  to  regular  verbs. 

Examples :     Waved,  from  '  wave ; '  defeated,  from  '  defeat ; '  beaten,  from  '  beat.' 

(  c  )  The  perfect  participle  is  never  used  as  a  verbal-noun,  and 
but  rarely  as  a  verbal-adverb  ;  but  it  is  freely  used  as  a  verbal- 
adjective  ;  thus — 

The  enemy,  defeated  at  every  point,  retreated  in  haste. 
The  flag,  waved  by  the  gentle  breeze,  seemed  exultant. 

(d)  This  participle  ( the  '  perfect ' )  is  always  the  last  word  in 
passive  verb-phrases  ( 101 ) ;  hence,  it  is  also  called  the  passive 
participle.  And  because  it  always  denotes  an  action,  etc.,  as 
past  (  completed),  it  is  sometimes  called  the  past  participle. 

167.  What  are  known  as  "compound  participles"  are  formed  by  placing 
having  before  a  perfect  participle,  or  by  placing  having  been  before  either  an 
active  or  a  passive  participle  ;  as — 

Having  watched ;  having  been  watching  ;  having  been  watched. 

Remark. — As  these  are  really  phrases  and  not  verb-forms,  they  do  not  come 
under  the  present  head,  and  will  be  treated  in  another  place.  ( 195.) 

168.  Briefly  stated,  the  forms  and  form-changes  of  verbs  are 
as  follpw  : 

i(  Number  Form. — Singular  form  made  by  adding  s  or  es  to  the  plural 
(root)  form.  [Changing  final  j,  preceded  by  a  consonant,  into  i.  ] 


70  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

2.  Person  Form. — Using  plural  form  of  verb  with  pronoun  7,  excepting 
in  the  case  of  be  which  takes  am  for  the  first  person,  singular. 

3.  Time  Form. — Past  time  form  made — 

1.  By  adding  d  or  ed  to  the  root  of  regular  verbs. 

2.  By  variety  of  changes  in  root-form  of  irregular  verbs. 

4.  Participle  Forms.— Root-form  changed— 

1.  By  adding  ing  to  make  the  active  participle. 

2.  By  adding  d  or  ed  ( regular )  ;  also  irregular  changes  to  form  the  per- 
fect participle. 

Remark. — Owing  to  the  variety  of  ways  in  which  the  perfect  participles  of 
irregular  verbs  are  formed,  it  is  better  to  become  familiar  with  them  by  memoriz- 
ing from  the  list  than  to  attempt  learning  rules  for  their  formation.  ( 329. ) 

1 69.     Archaic  Forms. — In  Old  English  there  were  two  other  verb-forms : 

1.  A  second  person-form  ending  in  st  or  est*  and  used  only  with  the  old 
second  person  ( singular )  thou  ;  thus — 

Thou  lovest,  thou  walkest ;  past,  lovedst,  walkedst. 

2.  A  third  person  (  singular )  form  ending  in  th  or  eth  ;  thus — 

He  loveth,  he  walketh  ;  ( no  corresponding  past  form ) . 

These  forms  are  called  archaic  ( '  old  style ').  They  abound  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  in  poetry.  They  are  still  used  more  or  less  in  poetry  and  in  solemn  forms 
of  address  ;  but  they  are  practically  obsolete  so  far  as  every-day  speech  is  con- 
cerned. [  See  Twenty-third  Psalm,  page  98.  ] 

170.  How  to  distinguish  Participles  from  Nouns  and  Ad- 
jectives.— Nouns  ending  in  ing  should  not  be  confounded  with 
active  participles  used  as  nouns.  The  latter  are  verbals  and  take 
the  modifiers  of  verbs ;  the  former  being  pure  nouns  never  take 
the  modifiers  of  a  verb.  (64*, Note.)  Neither  should  the  adjectives 
derived  from  verbs  (682)  be  confused  with  the  participles.  The 
former  immediately  precede  the  noun  described  ;  the  latter  gen- 
erally follow  the  noun  or  pronoun. 

Sometimes,  however,  a  participle  without  modifiers  is  placed 
just  before  the  word  it  limits.  In  such  cases,  it  may  be  distin- 
guished from  pure  descriptive  adjectives  by  the  following  test : 

*  Excepting  has  and  was,  which  add  only  t,  and  shall,   will,   are,   and  -were, 

which  change  the  final  letter  to  t;  thus,  Thou  hast,  thou  shalt,  thou  wert.    [  See  2582  and  377.  J 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  71 

Read  the  two  words  together  without  a  pause  between  them. 
If  the  idea  thus  conveyed  by  it  is  precisely  the  meaning  in- 
tended, the  word  is  an  adjective.  But  if  the  description  is  not 
what  is  intended,  the  word  is  a  participle. 

Example :     "  Listening,  we  caught  the  sound  of  clattering  hoofs." 
Here,  plainly,  it  is  not  intended  to  say  '  listening  we  ; '  but  just  as  plainly  the 
writer  does  mean  to  call  the  hoofs  '  clattering  hoofs.'     Therefore,  clattering  is 
a  descriptive  adjective,  but  listening  is  a  participle.     ( 365  b. ) 

Remark. — The  participle  used  as  an  adjective  is  sometimes  called  a  "  particip- 
ial adjective."  All  participles  used  to  complete  the  verb-phrase  after  copulas 
are  participial  adjectives,  since  they  are  a  part  of  the  verb-phrase  assertion  and 
at  the  same  time  are  descriptive  of  the  subject ;  thus — 

They  are  hurrying.     He  was  standing.     It  is  painted.     I  am  surprised. 

171.  Tell  which  of  the  words  in  the  following  sentences  are 
pure  adjectives  or  nouns,    and  which  are  participles  ;    also  tell 
how  the  participles  are  used  : 

i.  Singing  strengthens  the  voice.  2.  Worrying  will  not  help  matters. 
3.  Catching  trout  requires  skill.  4.  Running  will  not  hurt  him.  5.  The  kettle 
needs  scouring.  6.  Hunting  deer  is  exciting  sport.  7.  Rowing  a  boat  is  good 
exercise.  8.  They  thought  he  needed  close  watching.  9.  Counterfeiting  is 
punished  by  the  government.  10.  Hearing  is  believing,  seeing  is  knowing, 
ii.  The  hunter  saw  the  bear  approaching.  12.  Looking  out  of  the  window,  we 
saw  them  coming.  13.  The  moon  shining  brightly,  lighted  our  pathway. 

14.  The  stars,  twinkling  in  the  sky,  had  the  appearance  of  large  diamonds. 

15.  The  hounds,  heated  by  the  chase,  ran  into  the  water,  leaping  over  each  other 
in  their  haste.     16.  The  general,  seated  on  his  horse,  watched  the  enemy. 

Remarks. — Notice  that  participles  never  assert  the  action,  existence,  or  pos- 
session. They  only  mention  these  things  as  taking  place  or  as  having  taken  place. 

Besides  their  use  as  nouns,  adjectives,  and  adverbs,  participles  have  other 
constructions  which  will  be  considered  farther  on.  ( Lesson  32. ) 

172.  Parse  the  participles  in  the  following  fable,*  by  telling 
how  they  are  used, — whether  as  nouns,  adjectives,  or  adverbs  ; 
whether  they  are  active  or  perfect ;  and  whether  they  are  derived 
from  transitive  or  intransitive  verbs  :     ( 101 .) 

A  rich  gouty  man  troubled  with  disease  in  his  feet,  went  to  a  physician  dis- 
tinguished for  his  skill,  promising  to  do  exactly  what  the  physician  ordered, 

*From  Dr.  Abbott's  "  How  to  Parse."  The  fables  on  pages  5  and  37  were  adapted  from  the 
same  author's  "  How  to  tell  the  Parts  of  Speech." 


72  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

if  only  he  would  cure  him.  Seeing  his  patient  deprived  of  the  use  of  his  feet, 
and  too  lazy  to  use  them,  the  physician  took  him  up  into  a  room  containing  no 
chair,  couch,  or  seat  of  any  kind,  and  having  a  floor  lined  with  iron.  There  he 
left  him  and  went  out,  locking  the  door  behind  him.  Presently  the  rich  man 
found  his  feet  growing  unpleasantly  hot.  Irritated  at  this  he  called  out,  but 
no  one  answered.  Hobbling  to  the  door  on  his  crutches,  he  found  it  locked.  By 
this  time  his  feet,  heated  by  the  hot  iron  floor,  pained  him  so  much  that  he  be- 
gan to  raise  them,  lifting  first  one,  then  the  other,  at  first  slowly,  then  more 
and  more  quickly.  In  this  way,  forced  to  use  his  legs,  he  found  the  use  of  them 
grow  more  and  more  easy,  and  was  cured  against  his  will. 


LESSON  25. 

FUTURE  TIME  VERB-PHRASES. 

173.  We  have  seen  ( 161)  that  past  time  may  be  indicated  by 
a  change  in  the  form  of  a  verb  ;  but  we  very  often  make  a 
statement  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  that  we  do  not  mean  either 
present  time,  or  past  time.  Thus,  I  may  say — 

'  I  shall  write  to  him  about  it,  and  you  will  hear  from  him  soon,' 

by  which  you  understand  that  I  have  not  already  written  to  him, 
that  I  am  not  now  writing  to  him,  but  that  I  intend  to  write  to 
him  in  the  future.  In  the  second  part  of  the  sentence,  will  hear 
expresses  the  same  idea  of  future  time. 

(a)  Notice  that  the  future  time  is  not  indicated  by  a  change  in  the  form  of 
the  verbs  write  and  hear,  but  by  placing  shall  and  will  before  them.     Therefore 
we  may  say  that  future  time  is  shown  by  verb-phrases  made  by  placing 
shall  and  will  before  the  root  form  of  the  verb. 

(b)  If  we  change  the  positions  of  shall  and  will  in  the  sentence  given  above, 
and  say — 

'  I  will  write  to  him  about  it,  and  you  shall  hear  from  him  soon,' 
will  in  the  first  person  and  shall  in  the  second  denote  future  time,  and  also  indi- 
cate &  promise  on  the  part  of  the  speaker.     So,  in  the  sentence — 

We  will  go  and  see  him ;  he  shall  know  about  it, 

will  In  the  first  person  and  shall  in  the  third  indicate  not  only  future  time,  but 
also  a  determination  on  our  part. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH. 


174.  Now,  let  us  arrange  the  future  time  in  all  the  persons, 
both  singular  and  plural. 

SINGULAR.  PI,URAI,. 

I  shall  [will}  write.  We  shall  {will}  write. 

You  will  [shall}  write.  You  will  [shall}  write. 

He  will  [shall}  write.  They  will  [shall}  write. 

175.  By  placing  the  copula  be  after  shall  and  will,  an  adjective  may  be  used 
to  complete  the  predicate  ;  as,  '  I  shall  be  anxious.'    Complete  the  predicates 
in  the  above  outline,  using  the  adjectives    '  anxious,'   *  happy,'  '  sorry,'  '  glad,' 
'  sick.'    Notice  the  difference  in  the  meaning  of  shall  and  will  in  the  first  per- 
son, and  will  and  shall  in  the  second  and  third  persons.     [  See  366.  ] 

176.  The  following  table  shows  how  the  verb  'see'  should 
be  used  with  the  different  persons  and  numbers  to  indicate  the 
three  divisions  of  time, — present,  past,  and  future. 

Present  Time. 

SINGULAR.  PI,URAI<. 


(Active.) 

1.  I  see 

2.  You  see 

3.  He  sees 


( Passive. ) 
[am  seen.  ] 
[  are  seen.  ] 
[is  seen.] 


(Active.) 
We  see 
You  see 
They  see 


Past  Time. 


I  saw 
You  saw 
He  saw 


[was  seen.] 
[were  seen. ] 
[was  seen.  ] 


We  saw 
You  saw 
They  saw 


( Passive. ) 
[are  seen.] 
[are  seen.] 
[  are  seen.] 


[were  seen.] 
[were  seen.] 
[were  seen.]. 


Future  Time. 


We  shall  [  will}  see 
You  will  [  shall}  see 
They  will  [shall}  see 


[be  seen.] 
[be  seen.] 
[be  seen.] 


1.  I  shall  [  will}  see        [  be  seen.] 

2.  You  will  [shall}  see  [be  seen.] 

3.  He  will  [shall}  see    [be  seen.] 

177.  Conjugation. — Giving  all  the  forms  of  a  verb,  or  its  phrases,  in  the 
different  persons,  numbers,  and  times,  like  the  above,  is  called  CONJUGATION. 

[  From  con- '  together ; '  jugare,  *  to  join.'  ] 

The  forms  given  in  the  left-hand  column  of  both  singular  and  plural,  are 
called  "  active  "  because  they  represent  the  subject  as  acting ,  thus,  '  I  see,'  '  They 
see,'  etc.  ( 100. ) 

The  phrases  enclosed  in  the  brackets  are  called  "  passive  "  because  they  show 
that  the  subject  receives  the  action  expressed.  These  are  passive  verb-phrases, 
and  you  will  notice  that  they  are  made  by  putting  the  copulas  am,  is,  are,  was, 
were,  before  the  passive  participle,  seen.  ( i66d.) 


74  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

In  tlie  active  conjugation,  only  the  present  (see-s)  and  the  past  (saw)  forms 
of  the  verb  are  used.  In  ih& passive,  only  the  perfect  participle  (seen)  is  used; 
and  this  is  true  of  every  verb.  Therefore,  all  we  need  to  know  about  a  verb,  in 
order  to  conjugate  it,  is  the  present,  past,  and  perfect  participle  forms.  For  this 
reason,  these  forms  are  called  the  principal  parts  of  a  verb. 

178.     Conjugate  the  following  verbs,  using  the  active  form : 

Lay  ( transitive  ) — *  to  place  or  put ; '  as,  to  lay  a  book  on  the 
table. 

Principal  parts:  Present,  lay ;  past,  laid;  perfect  participle,  laid. 
In  conjugating  lay,  use  "  the  book  "  for  the  object* 

Lie  ( intransitive ) — ( to  recline ; '  as,  to  lie  on  the  grass. 

Principal  parts:  Present,  lie;  past,  lay  ;  perfect  participle,  lain. 
In  conjugating  lie,  complete  the  sentence  each  time  by  putting  the  phrase 
•'  on  the  grass  "  after  the  verb ;  thus,  *  I  lie  on  the  grass.' 

Set  ( transitive ) — ( to  place  or  put ; '  as,  to  set  a  table. 

Principal  parts  :  Present,  set;  past,  set;  perfect  participle,  set. 
In  conjugating  set,  use  "  the  table  "  for  the  object. 

Sit  (intransitive) — *  to  sit  in  a  chair.7 

Principal  parts:  Present,  sit;  past,  sat ;  perfect  participle,  sat. 

In  conjugating,  complete  the  sentence  by  the  phrase  "  on  the  lounge." 

Do  ( transitive ) — *  to  perform ; '  as,  to  do  the  work. 

Principal  parts:  Present,  afo  /  past,  did;  perfect  participle,  done. 
In  conjugating,  use  "the  work"  for  the  object. 

Have  ( transitive ) — '  to  possess ; '  as,  to  have  respect. 
Principal  parts:  Present,  have;  past,  had;  perfect  participle,  had. 
In  conjugating,  use  "  friends  "  for  the  object. 


<"To  tlie  Teacher.— The  conjugation  of  such  verbs  as  those  given  in  paragraph  178 
may  be  made  both  interesting  and  practical  by  using  objects  after  the  transitive,  and  phrases 
after  the  intransitive  verbs.  Indeed,  the  use  of  both  objects  and  adverbial  phrases  after  the 
transitive  verbs  is  recommended  and  strongly  urged.  Thus,  for  example,  '  He  lays  the  book  on 
the  table,'  '  You  laid  the  book  on  the  table,'  '  I  shall  lay  the  book  on  the  Uble.'  Students  can 
thus  be  led  to  see  that  conjugation  is  not  a  mere  rigmarole  of  forms,  but  a  practical  exercise 
in  sentence-making,— the  very  sentence,  too,  in  which  they  are  likely  to  make  errors. 

Always  repeat  the  conjugation  in  the  future  time,  using  will  and  shall,  as  shown  in  the 
brackets,  and  taking  notice  of  the  promise  or  determination  expressed.  Drill  your  students  in 
the  conjugation  of  such  troublesome  words  as  lay  and  lie,  sit  and  set,  until  the  correct  form  of 
expression  becomes  habitual.  This  work  is  continued  in  the  next  lesson. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  75 

179.  Correct  the  following  errors,  giving  reasons  for  the  cor- 
rections : 

i.  You  done  it  yourself.  2.  It  was  did  in  a  hurry.  3.  He  lay  the  book  down 
and  set  on  it.  4.  They  sat  the  clock.  5.  Sit  the  bucket  on  the  bench  and  let 
it  set  there.  6.  I  know  he  done  it  for  I  seen  him.  7.  They  are  laying  idle. 
8.  They  was  setting  on  the  fence  when  we  seen  them.  9.  They  done  nothing  but 
sit  bad  examples.  10.  Lie  it  on  the  shelf,  n.  He  laid  in  the  shade  and  watched 
the  men  sitting  fence-posts.  [  For  further  practice,  see  paragraph  254.  ] 


LESSON  26. 

PERFECT  TIME  VERB-PHRASES. 

180.  Present  Perfect  Time. — By  putting  have  (singular  has) 
before  the  perfect  participle  of  a  verb,  we   form  a  verb-phrase 
denoting  time  completed  but  connected  in  sense  with  the  present 
time;  thus — 

SINGULAR. — I  have  seen,  You  have  seen,  He  has  seen. 
PifURAi,. — We  have  seen,  You  have  seen,  They  have  seen. 

This  is  known  as  the  ''present  complete"  or  "present  perfect" 
time.     {Perfect  means  '  complete.' ) 

Conjugate  the  verbs  see,  lay,  lie,  sit,  set,  and  do,  in  the  present 
perfect  time,  using  the  following  objects  after  the  transitives : 

See  [  the  man ] ;  lay  [the  book ] ;  set  [  the  table] ;  do  [  the  work.  ] 
[For  principal  parts  of  these  verbs,  see  paragraph  178;  also,  329.  ] 

181.  Past  Perfect  Time.— By  placing  had  (past  of  have}  be- 
fore the  perfect  participle  of  a  verb,  we  form  a  verb-phrase  ex- 
pressing a  time  before  some  other  past  time ;  that  is,  it  will  denote 
an  action  that  was  perfect  ( *  completed ' )  at  a  certain  time  in  the 
past;  as — 

I  had  seen  him  there  before.     They  had  finished  the  work  before  we  arrived. 

This  is  called  the  " past  complete  "  or  "past  perfect"  time. 


76  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

Conjugate  see,  lay,  lie,  sit,  set,  and  do,  in  the  past  perfect  time, 
placing  the  objects  in  brackets  above  after  the  transitive  verbs. 

182.  Future  Perfect  Time.— By  putting  have  after  shall  and 
will  in  the  future  time  ( 174),  between  those  words  and  the  perfect 
participle  of  a  verb,  we  may  form  verb-phrases  indicating  a  time 
before  some  other  future  time,  or  an  action  that  will  be  perfected 
( ( completed  ' )  before  some  other  future  act ;  thus — 

I  shall  have  seen  him  when  you  arrive. 

You  will  have  earned  your  money  long  before  you  get  it. 

He  will  have  finished  the  work  by  that  time. 

This  is  called  the  "  future  complete  "  or  "  future  perfect"  time. 

Conjugate  see,  lay,  lie,  sit,  set,  and  do,  in  the  future  p  erfect  time,  with  objects 
after  the  transitives. 

183.  From  the  foregoing,  we  find  that  the  following  perfect, 
or  completed  times  may  be  expressed  by  the  use  of  have  and  had: 

PRESENT      (  J  have 


PERFECT.  Y°U 


PAST 
PERFECT. 


He  has  (They  have) 

I  had 
You  had 
He  had 


seen,  laid,  lain,  set,  sat,  done. 


(  I  shall  have  \                Note.— In  conjugating-  the  plural  num- 

FuTURE         j  her  only  one  change  is  made  from  this 

PERFECT.        1          U   .  outline.    In  the  third  person  (present), 

(_  He  will  have  j              has  is  changed  to  have. 

Conjugate  the  following  words,  carrying  them  through  the 
present,  past,  and  future,  and  the  present  perfect,  past  perfect, 
and  future  perfect  divisions  of  time  :  [  For  principal  parts,  see  329.  ] 

Fall  [on  the  ice] ;  come  [  to  school] ;  go  [  to  the  city  ] ;  sit  [  for  a  picture  ]. 

184.  Passive  Yerb-Phrases.— To  form  the  passive  conjugation 
of  the  perfect  times,  use  the  passive  participle  been  after  have  and 
had.  Conjugate  see  passively  in  the  perfect  times  according  to 
the  above  outline. 

Note. — The  passive  conjugation  of  see  in  the  present,  past,  and  future  times, 
was  given  in  our  last  lesson,  paragraph  176. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  77 

185.  Conjugate  see,  lay,  set,  and  do  passively,  in  the  six  divis- 
ions of  time,  by  turning  the  object  of  the  active  verb  into  the 
subject  of  a  passive  verb-phrase,  using  the  objects  given  in  par- 
agraph 1 80 ;  thus — 

PRESENT  TIME.     The  man  is  seen  by  me — by  you,  her,  him,  us,  them. 

PAST  TIME.     The  man  was  seen  by  me — etc. 

FUTURE  TIME.     The  man  will  [  shall  ]  be  seen  by  me— etc. 

PRESENT  PERFECT  TIME.     The  man  has  been  seen  by  me — etc. 

PAST  PERFECT  TIME.    The  man  had  been  seen  by  me — etc. 

FUTURE  PERFECT  TIME.     The  man  will  [shall]  have  been  seen  by  me— etc. 

186.  Conjugate  the  following  verbs  in  the  six  divisions    of 

time  :      [  For  principal  parts,  see  list  of  irregular  verbs,  paragraph  329.  ] 

Begin  [  the  work  ] ;  sing  [  a  song  ] ;  eat  [  the  cake  ] ;  drink  [  lemonade  ] ;  drive 
[  the  horse  ] ;  ring  [  the  bell  ] ;  throw  [  the  ball.  ] 

First  conjugate  actively,  using  the  objects  enclosed  by  the  brackets;  then 
conjugate  passively,  by  using  those  objects  for  the  subjects  of  passive  sentences, 
as  shown  above,  185. 

187.  By  using  the  active  participle  of  the  verb  we  are  conju- 
gating, after  the  copulas  be  or  am,  is,  are,  was,  were,  and  been,  we 
may  form  what  are  known  as  "  progressive  "  verb-phrases  in  each 
of  the  six  divisions  of  time  ;  thus — 

I  am  building.     I  was  building.     I  shall  be  building. 

I  have  been  building.     I  had  been  building.    I  shall  have  been  building. 

Remark. — These  progressive  verb-phrases  do  not  properly  have  a  passive 
form.  ( 386. ) 

188.  When  subordinate  clauses  beginning  with  if,  though,  or 
unless,  are  joined  to  sentences  containing  might,  could,  would,  or 
should,  the  past  form  of  a  verb  is  used  to  express  present  time 
with  either  singular  or  plural  subjects  •  thus — 

If  he  were  here,  he  could  tell  us. 

Unless  I  were  sure  of  it,  I  should  not  wait. 

Though  he  were  to  slay  me,  yet  would  I  trust  him. 

What  should  you  do  if  you  were  in  my  place  ? 

If  they  were  present,  they  might  answer  for  themselves. 

If  I  were  in  your  place,  I  should  do  just  as  you  are  doing. 


78  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

If  is  sometimes  omitted  ;  thus — 

Were  we  sure  of  it,  we  should  go  at  once. 

Were  the  facts  better  known,  the  people  would  demand  a  change. 

Were  he  here,  what  he  would  do  might  be  far  from  what  he  should  do. 

( a  )     Were  is  used  in  the  present  time  in  expressing  a  wish  ;  as — 

I  wish  he  were  here.     I  wish  I  were  well  again. 

( b  )      Were  is  used  in  the  present  time  after  as  if,  or  as  though, 
introducing  an  adverbial  clause  of  manner  ;  thus — 

He  talks  as  if  he  were  well  informed. 

You  speak  as  if  I  were  your  slave. 

They  act  as  though  they  were  confident  of  success. 

189.     In  subordinate  clauses,  connected  by  if,  unless,  etc.,  to 
principal  clauses  expressing  future  time,  the  present  form  of  the 

verb  is  used  with  a  future  sense.     (369.) 

• 

Examples :    If  they  are  there,  I  will  tell  them. 
Unless  he  comes,  I  shall  not  go. 
If  it  rains,  the  picnic  will  be  postponed. 
If  he  has  it  with  him  tomorrow,  ask  him  for  it. 


LESSON   27. 

INFINITIVES  AND  PARTICIPLE-PHRASES. 

190.  Infinitives. — The  use  of  the  active  and  perfect  partici- 
ples of  verbs  as  verbal-nouns,  verbal-adjectives,  and  verbal- 
adverbs,  has  already  been  explained.  (164.)  There  is  another 
way  in  which  a  verb  may  be  used  as  a  noun,  an  adjective,  or  an 
adverb.  This  is  done  by  speaking  of  the  action,  existence,  or 
possession,  represented  by  the  root-form  of  the  verb,  without 
asserting  it.  In  doing  this,  we  generally  put  the  word  "  to  " 
before  the  verb  ;  as,  to  do,  to  be,  to  have.  Thus — 

To  do  our  duty  is  right.  To  be  or  not  to  be  is  the  question.  To  have  and  to 
hold,  to  love  and  to  cherish,  were  the  happy  words. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  79 

Since  this  way  of  using  the  verb  does  not  represent  the  doing, 
being,  or  possessing,  as  belonging  to  any  particular  person,  or 
show  whether  one  person  or  more  than  one  is  concerned  in  the 
action,  etc.,  it  is  called  the  INFINITIVE  use.  Infinitive  means 
'  unlimited,'  that  is,  without  limit  as  to  person  and  number. 

Almost  every  verb  in  our  language  may  be  used  in  this  infini- 
tive way ;  and  because  the  to  is  generally  ( not  always  )  used  be- 
fore it,  this  little  word  is  sometimes  called  the  "sign"  of  the 
infinitive.  (370.) 

191.  The  following  examples  show  the  use  of  the  infinitive, 
with  the  construction  ( *  used  in  the  manner  ' )  of  a  nou0 : 

1.  To  decide  was  not  easy.     [  Used  as  subject.  ] 

2.  He  likes  to  work.     [  Used  as  object  of  verb.  ] 

3.  His  desire  is  to  know  more.     [  Used  as  predicate  noun.  ] 

4.  They  were  about  to  start  a  factory.    [  Object  of  preposition ;  370  a.  ] 

5.  He  came  intending  to  speak  first.     [  Object  of  participle.] 

(a)  The  infinitive  may  be  used  as  an  adjective;  thus— 

1.  They  have  money  to  spend,     (i.  e.,  '  spending '  money. ) 

2.  He  has  no  time  to  spare,     (i.e.,  'spare'  time.) 

3.  I  have  a  duty  to  perform,     (i.e.,   'a  duty  that  I  must  perform.') 

( b )  'The  infinitive  may  be  used  as  an  adverb  ;  thus — 

1.  They  came  to  disturb  us.     [  Modifying  verb.  ] 

2.  It  was  beautiful  to  behold.     [  Modifying  adjective.  ] 

3.  It  is  good  enough  to  eat.     [  Modifying  adverb  '  enough.'  ] 
Remark. — Notice  that  the  infinitive,  like  the  participle,  is  a  verbal.     It  does 

not  assert ;  and  when  it  is  used  as  a  noun,  adjective,  or  adverb,  it  may  take  an 
object  or  adverb  modifier  the  same  as  a  pure  verb.  lyike  the  participle,  the  in- 
finitive has  still  other  uses  which  will  be  considered  in  a  future  lesson.  ( p.  93. ) 

192.  Toy  the  "  sign"  of  the  infinitive,  is  generally  omitted  in 
the  following  cases : 

i.  After  bid,  help,  hear,  feel,  let,  make,  and  see,  and  words  of  similar  mean- 
ing, such  as  view,  behold,  perceive,  watch,  observe,  etc.,  especially  when  these 
verbs  are  followed  by  an  object  to  which  the  infinitive  is  added  as  a  comple- 
ment ( 222 )  ;  also  after  have  in  similar  constructions. 

Bxamples :  We  heard  him  speak  last  night.  They  helped  us  sing.  Bid 
them  come  at  once.  L,et  them  go  with  us.  I  would  have  you  remember  it. 
They  had  us  try  it  once.  He  had  them  practice  constantly. 


80  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

2.  After  need  and  dare,  when  they   are   followed  by  not,  or  when  they  are 
used  to  begin   interrogative  sentences ;  as,  '  Need  I  come   again  ?  '  '  You  need 
not  come  again.'     '  Dare  they  do  it? '     '  They  dare  not  do  it.' 

3.  After  do,  used  in  the  sense  of  "perform;  "  as,  '  I  do  work.'     (  205. ) 
Remark. — When  one  of  these  words  is  used  in  a  passive  phrase,  the  infini- 
tive following  has  the  to  ;  as —  ^ 

He  was  heard  to  say  it.     They  were  dared  to  come. 

4.  After  the  comparatives  as  and  than,  following  rather,  better ',  as  well,  or  as 
lief  ;  thus — 

I  might  as  well  tell  him  as  not.  I  would  as  lief  not  be,  as  live  to  be — etc. 
He  would  rather  die  than  give  up  his  principles ;  and  so  he  might  better  die 
than  give  them  up. 

5.  Whe^  two  or  more  verbs  used  infinitively  are  connected  by  a  co-ordinate 
conjunction,  the  to  may  be  used  with  the  first  and  omitted  before  the  others; 

He  promised  to  love,  honor,  and  obey. 

193.  Tell  how  the  infinitives  are  used  in  the  following  : 

I.  To  see  the  sun  is  pleasant.  2.  To  live  is  not  all  of  life.  3.  I  love  to  hear 
the  birds.  4.  He  tries  to  do  his  duty.  5.  Her  aim  was  to  do  right.  6.  To  part 
is  hard  when  friends  are  dear.  7.  To  comfort  the  sorrowing  is  Christ-like. 
8.  We  had  no  water  to  drink.  9.  He  has  money  to  loan.  10.  They  had  no  fire 
to  warm  them.  n.  The  child  has  no  one  to  care  for  it.  12.  I  hope  to  return 
soon.  13.  They  were  about  to  starve.  14.  The  ambition  of  most  men  is  to  be- 
come rich.  15.  And  fools  who  came  to  scoff  remained  to  pray. 

Point  out  four  infinitives  in  the  fable  in  paragraph  172,  telling  how  each  is 
used  and  how  the  infinitive  itself  is  modified. 

194.  Inflnitiye-Phrases. — By  placing  the  infinitive  of  be  before 
the  active  participles  of  other  verbs,  and  the  infinitive  of  have 
before  perfect  participles,  we  may  form  infinitive  phrases  similar 
in  form  and  nature  to  the  compound  participles  ( 167) ;  thus — 

To  be  giving  is  more  blessed  than  to  be  receiving. 
To  have  said  nothing  would  have  been  better. 

And  such  phrases  have,  like  the  participle  phrases  (184-195), 
passive  and  progressive,  as  well  as  active  forms ;  thus — 

To  have  been  given  a  choice  would  have  pleased  him. 

To  have  been  giving  assistance  all  the  time  would  have  gratified  us. 

(a)  The  copulative  infinitive,  to  be,  is  sometimes  followed  by 
an  adjective,  and  even  by  an  adverb  ;  thus — 

To  be  good  is  to  be  happy.     She  would  like  to  be  here. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  81 

In  such  cases,  the  adjective  or  adverb  may  be  said  to  be  used 
infinitively,  that  is,  in  an  unlimited  or  indefinite  way. 

195.  Participle-Phrases.— We  saw  in  our  conjugation  of  verbs 
that  the  perfect  ( ( passive  ' )  participles  of  verbs  may  be  used  in 
forming  verb-phrases,  both  active  and  passive,  the  active  phrases 
being   confined   to   the   completed   times.     (180-1-2.)     We    have, 
seen  also  (187)  that  the  active  participles  are  used  to  form  active, 
progressive  phrases. 

(a)  Participles  and  participle-phrases  are  also  both  active  and 
passive  in  sense  and  use.  The"  active  participle-phrase  is  formed 
by  placing  having  before  the  past  participle,  or  ( for  the  progress- 
ive phrase  )  having  been  before  the  active  participle  ;  thus — 

Having  watched  for  hours,  she  was  tired.     ( 365  b. ) 
Having  been  watching  for  days,  he  was  nearly  sick. 

( b  )  The  passive  participle-phrase  is  formed  by  placing  being 
or  having  been  before  the  passive  participle  ;  thus — 

Being  watched,  he  did  not  attempt  it  again.     (214.) 
Having  been  watched,  he  had  not  attempted  it  again. 

196.  The  participle-phrases  are  used  as  nouns,  the  same  as 
the  present  participle  and  the  infinitives  ;  thus  in — 

His  being  watched  prevented  his  attempting  it, 

the  phrase   '  being  watched  '  is  used  as  a  noun,  subject  of  the 
sentence,  limited  by  his  ;  and  in — 

He  dislikes  being  watched, 

the  phrase  '  being  watched  '  is  used  as  a  noun,  the  object  of  the' 
verb  dislikes  ;  while  in — 

He  objects  to  being  watched \ 
it  is  the  object  of  the  preposition  to. 

Parse  the  infinitives  and  participles  in  the  story  of  "  Judge 
Grammar's  Court,"  page  51,  by  telling  how  each  one  is  used  and 
how  it  is  modified. 


82  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

LESSON   28. 

AUXILIARY  VERBS  * 

197.  We  have  found  that  when  a  verb  is  used  by  itself  in 
making  an  assertion,  it  denotes  either  present  or  past  time.   (161.) 
We  have  found  also  that  when  we  wish  to  denote  any  other  time 
than  the  past  or  present,  we  do  so  by  making  use  of  the  words 
shall,  will,  and  have  (  past  had),  placing  them  before  the  principal 
verb.     Verbs  that  are  used  in  this  way  to  help  form  verb-phrases 
for  the  purpose  of  denoting  time  or  expressing  some  condition  of 
the  assertion,  are  called  AUXILIARY  or  helping  verbs.     ( Auxiliary 
means  *  helping.' ) 

198.  The  pure  auxiliary  verbs  are  shall,  will,  can,  may,  must, 
and  be.     The  first  four  of  these  have  past  forms — should,  would, 
could,  and  might. 

(a)  Be  is  the  base  or  root  of  the  pure  copulas,  and  has  for  its  present 
forms  am,  is,  are  ;  past  was,  were ;  perfect  participle  been. 

Be  means  '  exists,'  and  the  word  or  phrase  that  follows  any  of  its  forms  to 
complete  the  predicate,  qualifies,  limits,  or  explains  the  subject. 

(&)  Three  other  words,  ought,  do,  and  have,  are  usually  classed  with  the 
auxiliaries,  though  they  are,  in  reality,  principal  verbs.  (371.) 

Ought  means  '  owe ; '  do  means  '  perform ; '  have  means  '  possess/ 

USES  AND  MEANINGS  OF  THE  AUXILIARIES. 

199.  Shall,  Will.— Besides  denoting  future  time,  these  two 
words  may,  as  we  have  already  seen  (173^),  be  so  used  as  to  ex- 
press a  promise  or  determination  on  the  part  of  the  speaker. 

(a)  In  asking  a  question,  use  the  auxiliary  that  should  be  used  in  the 
answer.  This  rule  applies  to  other  auxiliaries  as  well  as  to  shall  and  will. 


**To  the  Teacher.— This  lesson  and  the  remaining  five  of  Parti  may  be  omitted  by 
beginners  and  classes  whose  members  are  aiming  at  only  the  "  practical  "  in  their  study  of 
language.  The  subjects  discussed  in  these  lessons  are  mostly  technical ;  besides,  all  the  salient 
points  are  touched  upon  in  Part  II,  from  which  reference  is  made  to  them  from  time  to  time. 
It  might  be  well,  however,  to  spend  some  time  on  the  exercises  for  analysis  in  lesson  33,  before 
passing  to  Part  II.  These  points  each  teacher  must  decide  for  himself,  being  governed  by  tte 
circumstances  and  the  needs  of  hie  clas$. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  83 

Examples  :  *  Shall  you  see  him  again  ?  '  Answer  :  '  I  think  I  shall.'  '  Will 
you  help  me  tomorrow  ?'  Answer:  '  I  will.' 

(b)  Will  should  not  be  used  with  the  first  person  in  asking  questions  as  to 
what  the  speaker  is  to  do  ;  thus,  '  Will  I  tell  him  ?  '  should  be  '  Shall  I  tell  him  ?  ' 

(c)  Will  is  used  to  report  the  will,  or  determination,  of  the  third  person; 
as,  "  He  will  have  his  own  way  about  it  in  spite  of  everything." 

200.  Should,  Would. — These   two   words    are    derived   from 
shall  and  will,  of  which  they  are  the  past  forms.     They  are, 
however,  much  used  in  a  present  or  future  sense  to  express  action 
or  existence  depending  upon  some  condition ;  as — 

I  should  go  if  I  were  able.     He  would  come  if  you  should  invite  him. 

( a )  In  general,  the  difference  between  should  and  would  is  much  the  same 
as  that  between  shall  and  will.  Would  implies  an  exercise  of  the  will ;  should 
a  dependent  action  or  an  obligation.  In  expressing  a  conditional  action  or  ob- 
ligation, should  may  be  used  with  either  of  the  persons. 

Remark. — In  the  latter  sense,  should  means  the  same  as  ought>  though  not  so 
strong  a  word ;  as,  "  He  should  ( ought  to)  go." 

Would  is  sometimes  used  in  the  past  to  denote  a  habit  or  custom ;  as,  "  He 
would  walk  the  floor  for  hours  at  a  time." 

Would  is  also  used  in  the  present  to  express  willingness  conditioned  upon 
the  ability  to  do ;  as,  "  He  would  if  he  could." 

In  asking  questions,  use  would  or  should  according  to  199  a>  and  b. 

In  reporting  what  others  have  said  we  should  use  the  auxiliaries  they  used 

Examples :  '  He  says  he  shall  be  glad  to  see  you  ; '  or,  '  He  said  he  should 
be  glad  to  see  you.'  '  The  man  says  he  will  not  pay  the  bill ; '  or,  '  The  man 
said  he  would  not  pay  the  bill.' 

[  For  further  discussion  of  shall  and  willt  should  and  would,  see  366.  ] 

201.  May,  Might. — May  indicates   present  permission  in  re- 
gard to  an  action  or  possession  ;  as — 

You  may  go.      He  may  have  it. 
(a )    May  also  implies  a. possible  present  possession  or  future  action  ;  thus — 

"  He  may  come  "  may  mean  either  '  He  is  at  liberty  to  come,'  or,  *  It  is  pos- 
sible that  he  may  ( will )  yet  come.' 

And  so,  "  He  may  have  it,"  may  mean  either  '  He  is  granted  permission  to 
have  it,'  or, '  It  is  possible  that  he  ( now)  has  it' 


84  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

(b)  May  also  expresses  a  possible  present  existence  or  the  possibility  of  a 
present  perfect  action  or  past  existence  ;  as,  "  He  may  be  sick."     "  He  may  have 
gone  by  this  time."     "He  may  have  been  sick."     That  is,  'It  is  possible  that 
he  is  sick,' '  has  gone,'  '  was  sick.' 

(c)  Might,  the  past  of  may,  is  used  to  express  past  permission  or  power  to 
do  or  be,  or  the  possibility  of  doing,  being,  or  having  ;  as,  "  He  said  you  might 
go ;  "  that  is,  '  He  gave  you  permission  to  go.'     "  You  might  have  helped  us  ;  " 
that  is,  '  You  could  (  or  '  had  the  power  to  ' )  have  helped  us.' 

(d)  Might  is  also  used  in  a  conditional  sense  to  express  either  permission 
or  power  to  do,  or  the  possibility  of  doing,  in  the  present  or  future;  as,  "You 
might  stay  if  the  weather  were  not  so  bad."     "  He  might  decide  in  our  favor  if 
they  would  let  him  alone."     "  They  -might  help  us  if  they  would." 

202.  Can,  Could. — As  may  implies  permission,  so  can  and  its 
past,  could,  imply  ability  or  power. 

(a)  Can  is  used  only  in  the  present  time.     Could  is  used  in  past  and  past 
perfect  verb-phrases.     In  the  past  perfect  it  is  used  in  a  conditional  sense ;  as — 

He  could  have  helped  us  if  he  had  been  here. 

(b )  Could  is  also  used  in  a  present  sense  to  denote  ability  conditioned  upon 
a  willingness  to  do ;  as,  '  He  could  if  he  would.' 

203.  Must,  Ought. — These  two  words  imply  obligation. 

Must  bears  the  idea  of  an  obligation  ( a  '  being  obliged ' )  from  necessity  or 
other  compulsion.  Though  it  has  no  past  form,  must  is  used  as  an  auxiliary  to 
present  perfect  verb-phrases  ;  as — 

"You  must  have  known  it,"  meaning,  '  It  must  be  that  you  knew  it,'  or,  'It 
certainly  is  true  that  you  knew  it.' 

(a)  Ought  originally  'meant  owe,  of  which  word  it  was  the  past  form. 
Hence,  ought  means  '  owe ; '  '  to  be  indebted  to  ; '  'to  be  under  obligation  to.' 
It  conveys  the  idea  of  a  moral  obligation,  or,  as  we  may  say,  an  obligation  '  from 
the  very  nature  of  things.' 

Remark. — Should,  in  one  of  its  senses,  is  a  synonym  for  ought,  though 
'  ought '  denotes  the  stronger  obligation.  [  See  200  a,  Remark.  ] 

Examples :    We  should  help  one  another.    You  ought  to  lielp  him. 

(d)  Though  classed  with  the  auxiliary  verbs,  ought  is,  as  mentioned  above 
( 198  b),  really  a  principal  verb,  always  followed  by  the  root  infinite  of  some 
other  verb.  ( 371. )  It  is  used  in  both  present  and  past  senses ;  thus — 

"They  ought  to  notify  us;"  that  is,  'They  owe  it  to  us  to  give  us  notice.' 
"  They  ought  to  have  notified  us ; "  that  is,  '  They  owed  it  to  us  to  give  us  notice.' 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  85 

204.  Without  including  shall  and  will  ( used  to  denote  future 
time,  and,  when  necessary,  to  express  a  promise  or  determination 
on  the  part  of  the  speaker),  and  have  (used  to  express  posses- 
sion, and  also  to  denote  completed  time),  we  have  the  following 
meanings,  or  ideas,  expressed  by  the  auxiliaries : 

POTENTIAL.     ( '  power ' )  can,  could,  might. 
LIBERTY.     ( '  permission  ' )  may  and  might. 
POSSIBILITY.     May  and  might. 
OBLIGATION.    Must,  ought,  and  should. 
NECESSITY.    Must. 

CONDITIONAL.     Would  or  any  other  auxiliary  followed  by  if  or  unless  intro- 
ducing a  condition. 

( a )  When  verb-phrases  are  introduced  by  the  auxiliaries  may,  can,  might, 
could,  expressing  the  idea  of  power,  permission,   or  possibility,  the   manner 
("  mode  ")  of  assertion  is  called  the  "  potential." 

(b)  When  the  auxiliaries  must  and  ought,  and  should  in  one  of  its  senses, 
are   used,  the  manner  of  assertion  is  "  obligative,"  expressing  obligation  or 
necessity. 

(c)  When  the  auxiliaries  are  used  in  a  conditional  sense,  the  manner  of 
making  the  statement  is  said  to  be  "  conditional  "  or  "  dependent." 

205.  Emphatic  Verb-Phrases.— The  use  of  do  (past  did)  as  an  auxil- 
iary is  to  form  what  are  called  emphatic  verb-phrases  in  the  present  and  past 
times  ;  as,  "  I  do  write  letters."     "  I  did  write  the  letters." 

Remark. — But  do  in  these  sentences  is  really  a  principal  verb,  followed  by  the 
infinitive  of  another  verb  as  its  object  ( 192 3  and  371 ).     Thus — 

"  I  did  write  the  letters  "  means  '  I  performed  the  act  of  writing  the  letters.' 


LESSON  29. 

INDEPENDENT,  INTRODUCTORY,  AND  EXPLANATORY  WORDS. 

In  previous  lessons  on  analysis,  we  have  studied  the  elements 
of  which  simple,  compound,  and  complex  sentences  are  com- 
posed. We  have  now  to  notice  certain  words  and  expressions 
that  are  used  in  sentences,  or  along  with  them,  to  aid  us  in  the 
expression  of  thoughts. 


84  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

206.  Independent  Words.— Aside  from  interjections  and  interjectional 
phrases,  and  the  responsives,  yes  and  no,  there  is  another  way  in  which  words 
are  used  independently,  that  is,  without  depending  upon  the  sentence  with 
which  they  are  used,   or  rather,  without  having  the  sentence  depend  upon 
them. 

( a )  A  word  may  be  independent  by  direct  address  ;  as — 

Gentlemen, — Your  order  of  yesterday  has  been  filled. 

Mr.  President, — I  move  that  a  committee  be  appointed,  etc. 

( b )  The  most  common  use  of  words  independent  by  direct  address  occurs 
with  imperative  sentences  ( 57 )  ;  as — 

Children,  [you]  obey  your  parents.    Charles,  [you]  shut  the  door. 

(c)  A  '  modal '  word  or  phrase   ( 104  yj  Remark )  is  often  made  independent 
by  being  used  parenthetically ;  thus — 

We  will  not,  however,  concede  so  much. 

Note. — In  analysis,  the  independent  words  are  not  considered  as  elements  of 
the  sentence  with  which  they  are  used.  If  mentioned  at  all  it  is  sufficient  to 
say  that  they  are  independent  words,  and  to  tell  whether  they  are  independent 
by  exclamation  ( interjectional ),  by  direct  address,  or  by  parenthetical  use. 

207.  Introductory  Words. — Under  this  head  may  be  classed — 

( a )  So,  well,  why,  and  that,  used  to  introduce  sentences.     ( 108  b. ) 

Remark. — The  introductory  that  is  often  omitted ;  as,  "  I  told  him  [  that  ]  you 
wished  to  see  him."  "  Had  you  heard  [  that  ]  they  were  coming  ?  " 

( b )  The  indefinites  it  and  there  used  as  subjects.     ( 108  a,  212  a.) 

(c)  Conjunctions  used  to  begin  sentences  and  connect  them  in  thought 
with  what  goes  before.     ( 116. ) 

(d)  Modal  adverbs  ( 104  f),  such  as  indeed,  surely,  certainly,  however,  when 
used  to  introduce  sentences.     [See  Rule  i  for  the  comma,  302,  Note  /.] 

Remark.— When  these  '  modal '  words,  and  phrases  of  a  similar  nature,  are  used  parenthet- 
ically, they  may  be  regarded  as  independent.  ( 206  c. )  [  See  302,  Note  3.  ] 

In  analysis,  words  in  class  ( a )  are  not  to  be  considered  as  elements,  they 
are  merely  introductory ;  those  in  ( b )  are  indefinite  subjects.  The  introduc- 
tory conjunctions  (c)  should  be  parsed  as  such  while  the  other  words  under 
(d)  are  to  be  considered  as  introductory  (or  '  modal ')  adverbs  modifying  the 
entire  sentence  rather  than  any  particular  word  in  it 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  87 

208.  Explanatory  Words. — It  frequently  occurs  that  a  noun  or  pro- 
noun is  added  to  another  noun  or  pronoun  by  way  of  explanation  ;  thus — 

His  brother  William  is  attending  college. 
We,  the  undersigned,  subscribe  as  follows. 

The  noun  '  William  '  is  added  to  brother  to  explain  or  show  which  brother  13 
meant ;  and  '  the  undersigned  '  is  used  to  explain  who  we  means. 

And  so  in — 

Milton,  the  poet,  was  blind  when  he  wrote  his  greatest  poem,  Paradise  Lost, 

'  the  poet '  is  added  to  explain  who  Milton  was,  and  '  Paradise  I/ost  '  is  added  to 
1  poem '  to  show  which  poem  is  meant.  Words  added  to  other  words  in  this 
way  are  called  "  explanatory  modifiers,"  or  (more  commonly)  they  are  said  to 
be  "  in  apposition  "  with  the  noun  they  explain.  ( Apposition  means  '  in  posi- 
tion near,'  or  '  by  the  side  of.') 

209.  Pronouns  are  placed  in  apposition  with  either  nouns  or  pronouns. 
When  they  are  so  used,  they  should  have  the  subject  or  object  form  according 
as  the  noun  or  pronoun  which  they  explain  is  a  subject  or  an  object.     (237. ) 

The  most  frequent  appositional  use  of  pronouns  is  that  of  compound  pro- 
nouns used  by  way  of  repetition  for  the  purpose  of  emphasis ;  thus — 

Charles  himself  sees  the  mistake.     I  myself  saw  it.     She  did  it  herself. 

Note. — The  'explanatory  modifier*  (word  in  apposition)  may  itself  be  mod- 
ified or  limited  by  a  word,  a  phrase,  or  a  clause. 

210.  Sentences  containing  explanatory  modifiers,  to  be  analyzed: 
[  For  the  punctuation  of  such  sentences,  see  Rule  i  for  comma,  302,  Note  4.  ] 

i.  Paul,  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  was  a  man  of  genius.  2.  Garfield,  the 
soldier,  became  Garfield  the  President.  3.  You  Englishmen  are  more  conserva- 
tive than  we  Americans.  4.  Fulton,  the  man  who  invented  the  steamboat,  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania.  5.  He  was  guilty  of  treason,  a  crime  punishable  with 
death.  6.  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  ordain  and  establish 
this  constitution. 

( a )  Sometimes  a  second  explanatory  word  is  placed  in  apposition  with  the 
first  one;  thus — 

'We,  the  undersigned,  citizens  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  do  humbly  petition,'  etc.; 
'I,  James  Brown,  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  and  for  the  town  of  Monroe,'  etc. 

211.  On  account  of  historic  importance  and  long  association,  the  noun  in 
apposition  in  some  cases  comes  to  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  name,  and  the 
two,  together  with  the  connecting  word  (usually  M^),may  be  parsed  as  one 
word  (6s7);  thus— 


88  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

1  William  the  Conqueror ' ;  '  Alexander  the  Great ' ;  '  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 
[  For  the  appositional  use  of  adjectives,  see  372.  ] 

212.  A  clause  may  be  placed  in  apposition  with  a  single  word;  thus — 

The  old  saying,  '  A  penny  saved  is  a  penny  earned,'  is  true. 

His  motion,  that  the  whole  subject  should  be  laid  on  the  table,  was  adopted. 

Are  you  aware  of  the  fact  that  such  a  law  has  been  passed  ? 

Remark. — In  sentences  like  the  last  one  the  noun  "  fact"  is  usually  omitted, 
so  that  the  noun  clause  introduced  by  that  seems  to  be  the  object  of  the  pas- 
sive verb-phrase ;  thus — 

I  was  not  aware  that  such  a  law  had  been  passed. 

I  am  informed  that  they  are  ready  to  proceed  with  the  case. 

(a)  Under  this  head  may  also  be  placed  the  explanatory  phrase  or  clause 
following  the  indefinite  '  it '  as  the  subject  of  a  sentence.  Thus  in — 

//  is  not  all  of  life  to  live,  //  is  human  to  err, 

the  its  are  explained  by  the  infinitives  '  to  live  '  and  '  to  err,'  which  are  the 
real  subjects,  the  logical  order  of  the  elements  being — 

To  live  is  not  all  of  life.     To  err  is  human. 

And  so,  in — 

It  is  true  that  he  was  proved  guilty  of  treason, 

*  it '  is  explained  by  the  noun  clause,  '  that  he  was  proved  guilty.' 

213.  A  word  may  stand  in  apposition  with  the  statement  made  in  a  pre- 
ceding clause ;  thus — 

He  has  what  is  better,  a  cool  head  and  a  clear  conscience. 

The  boy  disregarded  his  parents'  advice,  a  fault  too  common  in  these  days. 

Note. — Words  enclosed  by  marks  of  parenthesis  are  explanatory  and  in 
analysis  should  be  disposed  of  as  such  unless  they  constitute  a  whole  clause,  in 
which  case  the  matter  may  be  analyzed  as  a  separate  sentence. 

[For  the  appositional  use  of  infinitives,  see  224.  ] 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  89 


LESSON  30. 

ABSOLUTE   CONSTRUCTIONS,  ATTENDANT  ELEMENTS,  AND 
ADVERBIAL  NOUNS. 


In  our  last  lesson  we  noticed  the  use  of  nouns  as  explanatory  mod- 
ifiers, being  placed  in  apposition  with  (in  position  by)  the  noun  modified. 
Sometimes  —  in  fact,  quite  often  —  we  place  a  noun  or  pronoun  and  its  modifi- 
ers alongside  a  whole  sentence,  not  as  modifying  any  part  of  it,  but  to  express 
an  attendant  thought  or  accompanying  circumstance,  thus  — 

//  being  a  legal  holiday,  the  banks  were  closed. 
The  time  having  expired,  the  property  was  sold. 

Such  expressions,  or  constructions,  as,  'The  time  having  expired,'  and  'It  be- 
ing a  legal  holiday,'  seem  to  be  cut  loose  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence,  that  is, 
they  are  not  closely  connected  with  it  ;  hence,  they  are  called  ABSOLUTE  con- 
structions. (Ad-  *  from  ;  '  solut,  '  loosed.'  ) 

Note.—  Such  a  use  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  is  most  common  in  connection  with  a  participle  or 
participle-phrase,  though  other  words  and  phrases  are  sometimes  used  as  their  modifiers. 

Since  the  thought  expressed  by  it  is  so  connected  with  the  main  thought  of 
the  sentence  as  really  to  be  a  part  of  it,  the  '  absolute  '  construction  can  hardly 
be  said  to  be  independent.  And  since  they  do  not  modify  any  particular  part  of 
the  sentence,  these  absolute  expressions  are  neither  adjectival  nor  adverbial 
elements,  though  they  are  generally  adverbial  in  sense,  for  we  may  say  —  [  See 
sentences  above.] 

'  The  property  was  sold  when  (  or  because  )  the  time  had  expired.' 
*  The  banks  were  closed  because  it  was  a  legal  holiday. 

215.  The  whole  of  the  absolute  expression  may  be  called  an  attendant 
element.  The  principal  word  (a  noun  or  pronoun,  as  time  and  z/in  the  above 
sentences  )  may  be  regarded  as  the  base  of  the  attendant  element,  and  the  other 
words  and  phrases  as  modifiers  of  this  '  base.' 

Analyze  the  following  sentences,  pointing  out  in  each  case  the  base  of  the 
attendant  element  and  giving  its  modifiers  : 

[See  Rule  I,  Note  /,  for  use-of  comma,  paragraph  302.] 

i.  The  sun  having  set,  we  returned  home.  2.  The  moon  having  risen,  we 
resumed  our  journey.  3.  Supper  over,  we  withdrew  to  the  garden  for  a  walk. 
4.  Torch  in  hand,  our  guide  led  us  into  the  dark  cave.  5.  The  debt  having  been 
paid,  the  mortgage  was  canceled.  6.  The  deed  having  been  signed,  the  money 
was  handed  over.  7.  Business  being  dull,  they  were  obliged  to  close.  8.  The 
bookkeeper  being  sick,  the  statements  were  not  rendered.  9.  We  proceeded  to 


90  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

the  top,  they  remaining  below.  10.  They  hurried  him  off  to  jail,  he  protesting 
and  declaring  that  he  was  innocent,  n.  The  hour  having  arrived,  we  will  pro- 
ceed to  transact  the  business  for  which  we  came  together.  12.  Rain  or  shine, 
I'm  going.  13.  Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  give  my  hand  and 
my  heart  to  this  vote. 

(a)  Change  the  attendant  elements  in  the  sentences  above  into  equivalent 
adverbial  phrases  or  clauses  answering  some  of  the  questions  answered  by  ad- 
verbs (104.)  Notice  that  some  of  the  sentences  are  weakened  by  the  change. 

216.  Under  the  head  of  "  attendant  elements  "  maybe  placed  the  construc- 
tion known  as  "  pleonasm."     This  consists  in  placing  a  noun  before  a  sentence 
in  which  something  is  asked  or  asserted  about  the  thing  mentioned ;  thus — 

Your  fathers,  where  are  they  ? 

The  wind-flower  and  the  violet,  they  perished  long  ago. 

The  use  of  the  infinitive  as  an  attendant  element  is  given  in  paragraph  226. 

217.  Adverbial  Nouns.— Reference  has  been  made  to  adverbial  use  of 
nouns.    ( 109.)     They  are   added  to  verbs  and  adjectives  to   denote   a  fixed  or 
definite  time  at  which  a  thing  took  place ;  and  also  to  denote  measure,  or  extent 
of  time  or  distance,  and  measure  of  value,  of  weight,  of  number,  of  age;  and 
sometimes  to  indicate  direction. 

Note. — Pronouns  are  sometimes  ( though  rarely)  used  in  the  same  way.  When 
they  are  so  used,  they  have  the  object  form ;  hence  these  adverbial  nouns  and 
pronouns  are  sometimes  called  adverbial  objectives.  ( 373.) 

Examples  of  sentences  containing  adverbial  nouns  : 

I.  That  man  is  worth  fifty  thousand  dollars.  2.  Charles  is  twenty  years  old 
today.  3.  We  will  fill  your  order  tomorrow.  4.  They  will  return  next  week. 
5.  He  went  west  last  summer  for  his  health.  6.  The  ship  sailed  south  four  days. 
7.  Apples  are  worth  four  dollars  per  barrel.  8.  The  hog  weighed  four  hundred 
pounds.  9.  That  horse  is  fifteen  hands  high.  10.  He  is  worth  you  and  me  put 
together. 

(a)  Such  contractions  as  aboard,  afoot,  a-hunting,  a-fishing,  etc.,  may  be 
regarded  and  parsed  as  adverbial  nouns.  ( 373  a.) 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  91 

LESSON  31. 

OBJECTS  OF  INTRANSITIVE  VERBS  AND  PASSIVE  VERB-PHRASES,  ETC. 

218.  Intransitive  verbs  are  those  which  require  no   object  to  complete 
their  meaning,  and,  in  general  they  cannot  take  an  object.     But  a  few  intransi- 
tive verbs  do  at  times  take  objects  of  a  peculiar  kind,  as  follows : 

(a)  Objects  that  are  like  the  verb  or  related  to  it  in  meaning ;  as — 

They  ran  a  race.    He  dreamed  a  dream.     I  have  fought  a  %&&&  fight. 
Such  an  object  is  called  a  "  cognate  "  object.     ( 374. ) 

( b )  Objects  that  point  back  to  the  subject ;  as — 

He  walked  himself  weary.    They  talked  themselves  hoarse. 
Such  an  object  is  called  "  reflexive."     ( Reflexive^  '  bent  back,'  375  d.) 

219.  In  passive  verb-phrases  (101),  the  object  (receiver)  of  the  action  is 
taken  for  the  subject.    But  when  a  transitive  verb  having  two  objects  ( a  direct 
and  an  indirect^ — 46 )  is  changed  into  a  passive  phrase,  and  the  indirect  object  is 
taken  for  the  subject,  the  direct  object  retains  its  position  as  object  of  the  pred- 
icate.   Thus,  we  say — 

'  The  clerk  sold  her  the  goods,'  or — 
*  She  was  sold  the  goods  by  the  clerk ; ' 

'  The  druggist  gave  the  man  the  wrong  medicine,'  or — 

'  The  man  was  given  the  wrong  medicine  by  the  druggist ; ' 

'  The  boy  asked  him  that  question,'  or — 
'  He  was  asked  that  question  by  the  boy.' 
Transpose  the  other  sentences  in  paragraph  47  in  the  same  manner. 

220.  In  our  last  lesson  it  was  shown  that  two  words  may  be  used  together 
to  name  or  represent  the  same  thing,  one  of  the  words  being  '  in  apposition ' 
to  the  other  to  explain  or  emphasize  it.     Predicate  nouns  and  pronouns  are  used 
for  much  the  same  purpose,  but  the  manner  of  use  is  quite  different.    In  the 
latter  case,  the  nouns  and  pronouns  are  united  to  the  subject  by  some  copula  or 
copula-phrase;  whereas,  the  nouns  and  pronouns  'in  apposition '  are  added  to 
or  placed  by  the  side  of  the  other  nouns  or  pronouns  without  any  sign  (word) 
of  connection  being  used.     In  the  former,  the  identity  ( '  sameness ' )  expressed 
by  the  subject  and  predicate  words  is  asserted  by  the  copula,  while  in  the  latter, 
the  identity  of  the  two  names  '  in  apposition  '  is  assumed,  or  taken  for  granted. 
This  may  be  illustrated  by  the  following  examples : 

Sam  is  a  blacksmith,  and  he  is  a  happy  man. 
Sam,  the  blacksmith,  is  a  happy  man. 


92  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

221.  Supplemented  Object.— There  is  another  way  in  which  nouns 
are  added  to  nouns  and  pronouns  without  any  sign  of  connection  between 
them ;  thus,  in — 

The  President  appointed  him  Minister  to  France, 

Minister  ( '  or  Minister-to-France  ' )  is  added  to  him,  not  to  explain  who  him  is 
(for  it  does  not  do  that),  but  to  show  what  he  was  appointed  to  be.  But  to  be, 
the  'sign  of  connection,*  is  not  given,  and  the  word  *  Minister '-  [to-France] 
seems  to  be  added  to  him  as  though  it  were  a  part  of  the  object ;  and  such  it  is, 
for  the  object  would  not  be  complete  without  it.  The  following  examples  will 
make  this  still  more  clear : 

They  made  her  queen.    We  elected  him  chairman. 

In  the  first  example,  the  pronoun  her  is  not  the  complete  object  of  made,  for 
it  is  not  true  that  they  made  her.  The  word  '  queen '  is  added  to  her  to  sup- 
plement ( or  complete )  the  object,  the  entire  object  being  her  [to  be}  queen ; 
and  so  in  the  second  example,  the  completed  or  supplemented  object  is  him 
[to  be}  chairman. 

(a)  Adjectives  also  are  sometimes  added  to  the  object  for  the  same  purpose, 
especially  to  reflexive  objects  ( 218  b ) ;  thus — 

Your  letter  made  me  [        ]  happy.    They  sang  themselves  [        ]  hoarse. 

He  thinks  it  [        ]  wrong  to  go  there .      Do  you  think  it  [        ]  wise  to  do  so  ? 

Nouns  and  adjectives  added  to  the  object  in  this  way  are  called  supplements 
of  the  object.  ( 375 .) 

( b)  Sometimes  the  sign  of  connection  (to  be)  is  used  between  the  apparent 
direct  object  and  its  supplement.    In  such  cases  if  the  supplement  is  a  pronoun* 
it  must  have  the  object  form  (375<?)  as  though  it  were  a  mere  appositional 
word;  as — 

I  knew  it  to  be  him.    She  supposed  it  to  be  me.    He  took  them  to  be  us. 
But  this  construction  must  not  be  confused  with — 
I  know  it  was  she ;  Who  told  you  it  was  If  Its  being  he  makes  no  difference, 

in  which  the  object  or  subject  is  a  noun  clause,  and  the  pronoun  being  in  the 
predicate  of  the  clause  must  have  the  subject  form — he,  she,  I,  etc. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  93 

LESSON  32. 

INFINITIVE  AND  PARTICIPLE  CONSTRUCTIONS. 

The  use  of  participles  and  infinitives  as  nouns,  adjectives,  and 
adverbs,  has  already  been  pointed  out  (164  and  191).  There  are 
other  uses  of  these  "verbals,"  which,  though  not  so  well  denned, 
may  be  classified  and  understood.  * 

222.  Complement  of  Object.— The  addition  of  an  infinitive   copula 
to  the  direct  object  of  a  verb  has  been  suggested  (221  b).     In  such  cases  the 
direct  object  seems  to  be  a  subject  for  the  infinitive,  but  when  the  direct  object 
is    a  pronoun  it  must  have  the  object  form,  as  it  conforms  to  the  preceding 
verb  and  not  to  the  infinitive.     In  fact,  the  infinitive  thus  becomes  an  adjunct 
(something  'added  ')  or  complement  of  the  direct  object.    Thus,  in — 

I  asked  him  to  go  with  us, 

him  is  the  direct  object  of  asked,  but  the  complete  object  is  hint  to  go,  to  go 
being  the  infinitive  complement  of  the  object '  him.'    Again,  in — 

We  expected  them  to  deliver  it  to  you, 

the  direct  object '  them  '  has  to  deliver  as  its  complement.  The  infinitive  '  to 
deliver  '  has  its  own  object,  it ;  and  is  modified  by  the  adverbial  phrase  'to  you.' 
Similar  to  this  construction  (if  not  identical  with  it)  is  the  use  of  the  par- 
ticiple in — 

We  found  them  doing  the  work  in  an  indifferent  way. 

They  caught  him  trying  to  pass  the  counterfeit  bill. 

( a )  The  infinitive  and  its  modifiers  may  be  used  to  complete  the  object  of 
a  preposition  ;  thus — 

For  him  to  undertake  it  alone  was  folly.    It  was  hard  for  us  to  give  them  up. 

223.  Complement  of  Subject.— By  changing  the  examples  above  into 
the  passive  form  of  expression,  the  infinitive  becomes  a  complement  to  the 
subject;  thus — 

He  was  asked  to  go  with  us. 

They  were  expected  to  deliver  it  to  you. 

Remark. — The  infinitive  complement  is  adverbial  in  sense. 


tlie  Teacher.— We  have  not  attempted  in  this  lesson  to  give  a  full  treatment  of 
that  much-discussed  element— the  infinitive.  The  aim  has  been  to  present  its  more  important 
uses  in  such  a  way  that  the  student  can  readily  comprehend  them.  Nice  distinctions  between 
these  constructions  and  others  that  differ  from  them  only  slightly,  should  not  be  dwelt  upon, 
as  they  are  puzzling  to  the  student,  and  of  no  practical  value. 


94  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

224:.  Apposition. — The  infinitives  and  participles  may  be  used  as  nouns 
in  apposition ;  thus — 

Cyrus  W.  Field's  scheme,  to  unite  the  two  continents  by  a  cable,  was  finally 
successful. 

David's  early  occupation^  caring  for  sheep,  fitted  him  for  the  inspiration  of 
the  twenty-third  psalm. 

225.  Absolute,  Independent,  etc. — The  use  of  the  participle-phrase 
as  an  attendant  element  has  been  pointed  out  (214,  Note}.     This  absolute  con- 
struction  is   sometimes  carried  to  the  extent  of  using    a   second   phrase  to 
modify  the  first ;  as — 

His  being  guilty  having  been  proved,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
But  such  a  wording  is  awkward  and  should,  if  possible,  be  avoided. 

( a )     Infinitives  and  participles  are  used  absolutely  by  pleonasm  (  216 ) ;  thus — 

To  be,  or  not  to  be  ? — that  is  the  question. 

Feeding  the  hungry  and  healing  the  sick, — this  was  His  labor  of  love. 

(b)     Infinitives  and  participles  are  used  independently  in  exclamations;  as — 

To  think  of  his  acting  thus !     To  die ;  to  sleep ;  to  sleep  !  perchance  to  dream. 
Banished  from  Rome !     What's  banished  but  set  free  ? 

(c)     Infinitives  and  participles  are  used  independently,  by  way  of  introduc- 
tion, or  parenthetically,  in  the  same  way  that  modal  adverbs  are  used ;  thus — 

To  be  candid,  I  have  but  little  confidence  in  the  plan. 
To  be  sure,  he  is  not  very  clever  but  he  is  kind-hearted. 
There  are,  to  be  sure,  people  who  think  otherwise. 
Strictly  speaking,  they  belong  to  a  different  class. 
Education,  figuratively  speaking,  is  the  key  to  success. 

Remark. — In  analysis,  the  infinitives  and  participles  used  in  this  way  may  be 
regarded  as  attendant  elements.  ( 215.) 

226.  From  the  foregoing,  we  have  the  following  summary  of 
the  uses  of  infinitives  and  participles : 

i.     As  Nouns — 

(a)  Subject  of  a  sentence.     (164,  191*,  194,  and  196.) 

(£)  Object  of  a  verb.     ( 164,  191 2,  and  196.) 

(c)  In  the  predicate  of  a  sentence.     ( 191 3  and  365  a.) 

(a)  Object  of  a  preposition.     ( 164,  191*,  and  196.) 

( e )  In  apposition  with  a  noun.     ( 224. ) 

2r     As  Adjectives — Qualifying  nouns.     (164  a  and  191  a.) 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  95 


3.     As  Adverbs — 


(a )  Modifying  the  verb.     ( 164  b  and  191  b1.) 

( b )  Modifying  an  adjective.     ( Inf.  191  b  2. ) 

( c )  Modifying  an  adverb.     ( Inf.  191  c  3. ) 
(d\     Adverbially  in  the  following  ways — 

1.  As  complements  of  objects.     (222  and  222  a.) 

2.  As  complements  of  passive  subjects.     (223.) 

3.  As  attendant  elements.     ( 225  and  225  c. ) 

4.  Absolutely — by  pleonasm.     ( 225  a. ) 

(a)  In  exclamations.     ( 225  b. ) 

( b )  By  way  of  introduction.    ( 225  c. ) 

5.  Independently. 

227.  Tell  the  uses  of  the  infinitives  and  participles  in  the 
following : 

i.  Those  apples  are  not  good  to  eat.  2.  His  father  wanted  him  to  be  a 
preacher.  3.  I  have  a  letter  which  I  wish  you  to  read.  4.  We  expect  him  to  re- 
turn by  the  first  of  next  month.  5.  They  were  invited  to  come  again.  6.  He 
was  told  to  remain  where  he  was.  7.  To  go  or  to  stay  ? — that  was  a  question 
hard  to  decide.  8.  Delightful  task  to  rear  the  tender  thought !  9.  I  think  it 
wrong  to  steal.  10.  It  is  criminal  to  commit  forgery,  n.  Do  you  think  it  quite 
right  to  treat  him  thus?  12.  We  consider  it  a  miracle  that  he  was  not  killed. 
13.  For  him  to  keep  quiet  is  next  to  impossible.  14.  It  is  natural  for  man  to 
indulge  in  the  illusions  of  hope.  15.  His  object  was  to  get  possession  of  his 
father's  estate.  16.  Vessels  carrying  rich  cargoes  are  constantly  arriving.  17. 
Their  stores  being  exhausted,  they  were  in  danger  of  starving.  18.  Avoid  keep- 
ing company  with  the  vicious.  19.  His  having  been  absent  so  long  made  it  hard 
for  him  to  keep  up  with  his  class.  20.  The  wind  goes  whistling  through  the 
trees.  21.  Your  employer  has  a  right  to  expect  you  to  serve  him  faithfully. 
22.  If  you  want  to  be  promoted,  try  to  earn  more  than  you  are  getting. 

23.  I  am  glad  to  think  that  I  am  not  bound  to  make  the  world  go  right,  but 
only  to  discover  and  to  do,  with  cheerful  heart,  the  work  that  God  appoints.— 
Jean  Ingelow. 

24.  Boys  flying  kites  haul  in  their  white-winged  birds ; 
You  can't  do  that  way  when  you're  flying  words. 
"  Careful  with  fire,"  is  good  advice  we  know : 
"  Careful  with  words,"  is  ten  times  doubly  so. 
Thoughts  unexpressed  may  sometimes  fall  back  dead ; 
But  God  himself  can't  kill  them  when  they're  said . 

From  «  Farm  Festivals."—^'//  Carleton. 


96  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

LESSON  33. 

EXERCISES  FOR  ANALYSIS. 

228.     A  cheerful  temper,  joined  with  innocence,  will  make  beauty  attractive, 
knowledge  delightful,  and  wit  good  natured. — Anon.      (221  a.*) 

Earth  13  our  work-house,  and  Heaven  is,  or  should  be,  our  store-house.  Our 
chief  business  here  is  to  lay  up  treasures  there. — Dr.  Grynoeus. 

Speak  properly,  and  in  as  few  words  as  you  can,  but  always  plainly;  for  the 
end  of  speech  is  not  ostentation,  but  to  be  understood. — Penn. 

God  hath  a  voice  that  ever  is  heard 

In  the  peal  of  the  thunder,  the  chirp  of  the  bird ; 

It  comes  in  the  torrent,  all  rapid  and  strong, 

In  the  streamlet's  soft  gush  as  it  ripples  along  ; 

It  breathes  in  the  zephyr,  just  kissing  the  bloom  ; 

It  lives  in  the  rush  of  the  sweeping  simoon  ; 

Let  the  hurricane  whistle,  or  warblers  rejoice, 

What  do  they  all  tell  theebut  "  God  hath  a  voice  ?  "—Eliza  Cook. 

Knowledge  cannot  be  stolen  from  us.  It  cannot  be  bought  or  sold.  We  may 
be  poor,  and  the  sheriff  may  come  and  sell  our  furniture,  or  drive  away  our  cow, 
or  take  our  pet  lamb,  and  leave  us  homeless  and  penniless  ;  but  he  cannot  lay 
the  law's  hand  upon  the  jewelry  of  our  minds. — E.  Burritt. 

Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide, 
In  the  strife  of  Truth  with  Falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil  side  ; 
Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  offering  each  the  bloom  or  blight, 
Parts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand,  and  the  sheep  upon  the  right ; 
And  the  choice  goes  by  forever  'twixt  that  darkness  and  that  light. 
********** 
Then  to  side  with  Truth  is  noble,  when  we  share  her  wretched  crust, 
Ere  her  cause  bring  fame  and  profit,  and  'tis  prosperous  to  be  just ; 
Then  it  is  the  brave  man  chooses,  while  the  coward  stands  aside, 
Doubting  in  his  abject  spirit,  till  his  Lord  is  crucified.— -James  R ussell  Lowell. 

Rugged  strength  and  radiant  beauty, — these  were  one  in  nature's  plan  ; 
Humble  toil  and  heavenward  duty, — these  will  form  the  perfect  man.  ( 216. ) 

— Mrs.  Hale. 

Language  and  thoughts  are  inseparable.  Words  without  thoughts  are  dead 
sounds ;  thoughts  without  words  are  nothing.  To  think  is  to  speak  low ;  to 
speak  is  to  think  loud. — Max  Mueller. 


*  Paragraph  numbers  refer  to  certain  constructions  explained  in  lessons  just  preceding-  this. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  97 

Young  women,  the  glory  of  your  life  is  to  do  something,  and  to  be  some- 
thing. You  may  have  formed  the  idea  that  ease  and  personal  enjoyment  are  the 
ends  of  your  life.  This  is  a  terrible  mistake.  Development,  in  the  broadest 
sense  and  in  the  highest  direction,  is  the  end  of  your  life.—;/.  G.  Holland. 

No  one  loves  to  tell  a  tale  of  scandal  but  to  him  who  loves  to  hear  it.  L,earn 
then,  to  rebuke  and  silence  the  detracting  tongue,  by  refusing  to  hear.  Never 
make  your  ear  the  grave  of  another's  good  name. — Anon.  (221.) 

Cover  them  over  with  beautiful  flowers  ; 

Deck  them  with  garlands,  these  brothers  of  ours,    (208.) 

Lying  so  silent  by  night  and  by  day, 

Sleeping  the  years  of  their  manhood  away, — 

Years  they  had  marked  for  the  joys  of  the  brave, 

Years  they  must  waste  in  the  sloth  of  the  grave. 

All  the  bright  laurels  they  fought  to  make  bloom 

Fell  to  the  earth  when  they  went  to  the  tomb. 

Give  them  the  meed  they  have  won  in  the  past ; 

Give  them  the  honors  their  merits  forecast ; 

Give  them  the  chaplets  they  won  in  the  strife, 

Give  them  the  laurels  they  lost  with  their  life. 

Cover  them  over, — yes,  cover  them  over, — 

Parent  and  husband  and  brother  and  lover  ; 

Crown  in  your  heart  these  dead  heroes  of  ours, 

And  cover  them  over  with  beautiful  flowers. 

— Carle  ton. 

Reputation  is,  or  should  be,  the  result  of  character.  Character  is  the  sum  of 
individual  qualities ;  reputation,  what  is  generally  thought  of  character,  so  far 
as  it  is  known.  Character  is  like  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace,  of  which  repu- 
tation is,  or  should  be,  the  outward  and  visible  sign.  A  man  may  have  a  good 
character  and  a  bad  reputation,  or  a  bad  character  and  a  good  reputation  ;  al- 
though, to  the  credit  of  human  nature,  which,  with  all  its  weakness,  is  not 
ignoble,  the  latter  is  more  common  than  the  former. — Richard  Grant  White. 

"  How  long  I  shall  love  him  I  can  no  more  tell, 
Than,  had  I  a  fever,  when  I  should  be  well. 
My  passion  shall  kill  me  before  I  will  show  it, 
And  yet  I  would  give  all  the  world  he  did  know  it ; 
But  oh  how  I  sigh,  when  I  think,  should  he  woo  me, 
I  cannot  refuse  what  I  know  would  undo  me."  *     ( 199,  200. ) 


*  Of  this  passage  from  Sir  George  Etherege's  "  She  Would  if  She  Could,"  Mr.  Richard 
Grant  White  says  :  "  I  do  not  know  in  E)nglish  literature  another  passage  in  which  the  dis- 
tinction between  shall  and  will  and  would  and  should  is  at  once  so  elegantly,  so  variously,  so 
precisely,  and  so  compactly  illustrated." 


98  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

The  Lord  is  my  shepherd ;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in 
green  pastures :  he  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters.  He  restoreth  my  soul : 
he  guideth  me  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for  His  name's  sake.  Yea,  though 
I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil ;  for  thou  art 
with  me :  thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me.  Thou  preparest  a  table  before 
me  in  the  presence  of  mine  enemies  :  thou  hast  anointed  my  head  with  oil ;  my 
eup  runneth  over.  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my 
life :  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  for  ever. — Twenty-third  Psalm. 

LITTLE  BROWN  HANDS. 

They  drive  home  the  cows  from  the  pasture, 

Up  through  the  long,  shady  lane, 
Where  the  quail  whistles  loud  in  the  wheat  fields, 

That  are  yellow  with  ripening  grain. 
They  find  in  the  thick  waving  grasses 

Where  the  scarlet-lipped  strawberry  grows ; 
They  gather  the  earliest  snowdrops 

And  the  first  crimson  buds  of  the  rose. 

They  toss  new  hay  in  the  meadow ; 

They  gather  the  elder-bloom  white; 
They  find  where  the  dusky  grapes  purple 

In  the  soft-tinted  October  light. 
They  know  where  the  apples  hang  ripest, 

And  are  sweeter  than  Italy's  wines  ; 
They  know  where  the  fruit  hangs  the  thickest 

On  the  long  thorny  blackberry  vines. 

They  gather  the  delicate  sea-weeds, 

And  build  tiny  castles  of  sand  ; 
They  pick  up  the  beautiful  sea-shells — 

Fairy  barks  that  have  drifted  to  land. 
They  wave  from  the  tall,  rocking  tree-tops, 

Where  the  oriole's  hammock-nest  swings ; 
And  at  night-time  are  folded  in  slumber 

By  a  song  that  a  fond  mother  sings. 

Those  who  toil  bravely  are  strongest ; 

The  humble  and  poor  become  great ; 
And  so  from  these  brown-handed  children 

Shall  grow  mighty  rulers  of  state. 
The  pen  of  the  author  and  statesman — 

The  noble  and  wise  of  the  land —     ( 208.) 
The  sword,  and  the  chisel,  and  palette 

Shall  be  held  in  the  little  brown  hand.        — Mary  H.  Krout. 


PART  II. 


FACTS   ABOUT   NOUNS. 

229.  Fact  1.     The  plural  of  nouns  is  regularly  formed  by 
adding  s  or  es  to  the  singular. 

Remark. — There  are  some  exceptions  to  this  statement,  but  as  the  formation 
of  plurals  is  a  matter  of  spelling  rather  than  a  question  of  correct  construction, 
the  pupil  is  referred  to  what  has  already  been  said  on  this  point.  ( 129  to  132.) 

230.  Fact  2.     The  possessive  form  of  singular  nouns  is  reg- 
ularly made  by  adding  an  apostrophe  and  the  letter  s  (  's  )  ;  that 
of  plural  nouns  is  made  by  adding  only  the  apostrophe,  unless 
the  plural  form  does  not  end  with  j,  in  which  case  the  possessive 
sign  is  the  same  as  for  singular  nouns. 

Remark. — For  the  possessive  sign  with  phrases  and  nouns  in  apposition,  and 
its  use  to  denote  joint  or  individual  ownership,  see  paragraphs  136, 137,  and  363. 
[For  examples  of  correct  usage,  see  135  to  139,  and  363.] 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :     [Four  are  correct.] 

i.  The  boys'  hat  was  lost.  2.  Marys'  handkerchief  was  stolen.  3.  The 
Teacher's  Journal.  4.  The  Youth's  Companion.  5.  The  Presidents'  Message. 
6.  The  Seamens  Bethel.  7.  A  teachers'  desk.  8.  The  Mens  Home  has  been 
opened.  9.  The  babys  mother  died.  10.  The  ship's  crew  were  starving,  n.  The 
soldiers'  arm  was  broken.  12.  The  soldiers  guns  were  captured  while  they 
slept.  13.  The  judges'  decision  was  not  satisfactory.  14.  The  ladys'  gloves 
were  returned  to  her.  15.  The  ladie's  bonnets  were  alike.  16.  She  mourned 
her  brothers'  death.  17.  Another  day's  work  is  done.  18.  Her  husbands  mis- 
fortune made  her  sick.  19.  Cromwell's  the  Protectors'  reign  was  brief. 

231.  Fact  3.     A  noun  limiting  a  participle  should  have  the 
possessive  form. 

Examples :  John's  failing  to  pass  the  examination  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  his  parents.  The  jury's  disagreeing  was  a  surprise  to  us. 


100  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

Correct  the  following : 

i.  The  man  asking  the  question  showed  that  he  was  intelligent.  2.  The  boy 
attempting  to  get  away  proved  that  he  was  guilty.  3.  The  bank  failing  caused 
him  to  commit  suicide.  4.  The  firm  selling  out  was  unexpected.  5.  The  city 
running  into  debt  was  unnecessary.  6.  John  quitting  the  farm  was  a  mistake. 

232.  Fact  4.     When  a  numeral  adjective  is  united  with  a 
noun  to  form  a  compound  adjective,  the  singular  form  of  the 
noun  is  used ;  but  when  the  numeral  is  placed  before  a  noun 
used  adverbially  to  denote  distance  or  measure  (79*),  the  plural 
form  of  the  noun  is  used. 

Examples  :  A  three-foot  measure.  A  four-inch  pipe.  A  ten-pound  weight. 
A  platform  five  feet  high.  This  piece  is  six  yards  long.  [See3i92.] 

Correct  the  following : 

i.  A  two-gallons  jug  ;  a  three-miles  run  ;  a  six-quarts  pail;  a  ten-inches  sewer ; 
a  fifty-feet  lot ;  a  two-feet  rule  ;  a  ten-days  note.  2.  He  is  six  foot  tall.  3.  The 
street  was  three  mile  long.  4.  The  field  is  forty  rod  wide  and  eighty  rod  long. 
5.  The  lots  are  sixty  foot  wide.  6.  The  cloth  was  two  yard  wide. 

MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES  TO  BE  CORRECTED. 
[  Two  are  correct.  ] 

233.  [  See  errors  under  139.  ]     i.  Mary's,  the  carpet  weaver,  house  burned 
last  night.       2.   The  committee   will    meet  at  Jones'  the    carpenter's  house. 
3.  The  measure  failed  on  account  of  the  president  neglecting  to  lay  it  before  the 
council.      4.  Did  you  read  that  account  of   a    man  being    killed    yesterday? 
5.  Another  weeks'  work  is  finished.      6.  The  horse  was  15  hand  high.     7.  They 
bought  a  30  horses  power  engine.     8.  The  hog  weighed  t^ree  hundred  pound. 
9.  You  will  find  it  at  the  ten  cents  counter.     10.  The  room  is  twelve  foot  long 
and  nine  foot  broad.      u.  He  is  five  years  old  today.     12.  We  were  surprised  at 
the  clerk  doing  that.       13.  Had  you  heard  of  the  child  falling  and  breaking 
its  arm  ?     14.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  anyone's  acting  thus  ? 

FACTS  ABOUT  PRONOUNS. 

234.  Fact  1.     /,  we,  he,  she,  they,  and  who,  are  subject  forms 
used  in  the  following  positions:     For  subjects  ;  in  the  predicate 
after  a  copula  verb  ;    as  the  base  of  attendant  elements  ;    some- 
times in  apposition.    ( 144,  209,  and  215. ) 

Examples :  I.  He  and  I  were  playmates.  2.  He  and  she  came  yesterday. 
3.  It  is  I.  It  is  he.  It  is  we.  It  is  she.  It  is  they.  It  is  who  ?  4.  It  was  I.  It 


PLAIN   ENGLISH,  101 

was  we.  It  was  he.  It  was  she.  It  was  they.  It  was  who  ?  5.  Who  is  it  ? 
Answer :  It  is  I,  we,  he,  she,  or  they.  6.  Who  was  it  ?  Answer :  It  was  I,  we, 
he,  she,  or  they.  7.  He  being  rich,  they  feared  to  offend  him.  8.  The  laboring 
people, — they  who  are  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  nation,  have  a  right  to  expect 
this  of  you.  [  Commit  to  memory  examples  j,  4,  5,  and  6.  ] 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :     [Two  are  correct.  ] 

i.  Her  and  you  missed  it  by  not  coming.  2.  Him  and  me  and  you  have  been 
chosen.  3.  Us  four  were  there  on  time.  4.  You  and  them  should  come  to  an 
understanding.  5.  I  think  it  is  her.  6.  I  am  not  sure  about  its  having  been  her. 
7.  It  was  me.  8.  They  supposed  it  was  us.  9.  Its  being  them  does  not  alter  the 
case  much.  10.  We  knew  it  was  they. 

Note  i. — Errors  in  the  pronoun  form  frequently  occur  in  answering  the 
question  who  ?  with  a  single  word;  as,  Who  is  it?  Answer:  "Me."  ("It  is 
me.")  Incorrect;  the  answer  should  be  "I."  ("It  is  I.") 

Note  2.  But  this  error  is  most  likely  to  occur  after  the  conjunctions  as,  than, 
and  but,  introducing  clauses,  the  predicates  of  which  are  omitted  ;  as,  "  Few 
persons  are  as  prompt  as  him."  Incorrect,  since  the  meaning  is,  "  Few  persons 
are  as  prompt  as  he  [is}. 

ii.  I  never  saw  a  kinder  woman  than  her.  12.  You  were  more  fortunate  than 
him  and  me.  13.  No  one  saw  it  but  him.  14.  You  cannot  write  so  rapidly  as 
her.  15.  We  are  stronger  than  them.  16.  lam  older  than  him.  17.  They  are 
richer  than  us,  but  we  are  just  as  happy  as  them.  [  See  237  b.  ]  18.  You  are 
taller  than  her.  19.  I  can  walk  as  fast  as  him.  20.  Them  being  absent,  we 
could  not  transact  the  business.  21.  We  being  present,  they  said  but  little. 
22.  Him  having  resigned,  there  was  a  vacancy  to  be  filled.  23.  Do  you  think  any- 
one would  do  more  for  you  than  I  ? — me  who  have  always  been  your  friend  ? 

235.  Fact  2.  Me,  him,  her,  them,  us,  and  whom,  are  object 
forms.  They  are  used  :  i.  As  objects  of  verbs  and  prepositions ; 
2.  Sometimes  in  apposition  with  another  object.  [See  144.] 

Examples :  i.  I  met  him  and  her.  2.  You  wrote  to  me  about  them.  3.  To 
whom  shall  we  go  ?  4.  How  can  I  forsake  my  father  ? — him  who  has  done  so 
much  for  me? 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :     [  Two  are  correct.  ] 

i.  He  sent  his  regards  to  you  and  she.  2.  To  who  did  you  go  for  your  infoi- 
mation  ?  3.  Between  you  and  I,  it  was  him  who  did  it.  4.  Did  they  leave  a  mes- 
sage for  he  and  I?  5.  He  invited  John  and  I  to  dinner.  6.  They  charged  she 
and  her  sister  full  fare.  7.  For  who  did  you  ask  ?  8.  Who  did  you  see  ?  9.  With 
who  did  you  sit  ?  10.  To  who  did  you  write  ?  n.  Do  come  to  see  us. 


102  PLAIN  ENGLISH. 

236.  Fact  3.     A  pronoun  limiting  a  participle   takes   the 
possessive  form.     (231.) 

Examples:  Their  thinking  so  does  not  make  it  so.  His  being  sick  pre- 
vented my  coming.  Your  going  there  at  that  time  was  unwise. 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :     [  Two  are  correct.  ] 

i.  Us  staying  away  was  a  mistake.  2.  They  expecting  that  of  us  was  absurd. 
3.  His  being  rich  does  not  make  him  happy.  4.  I  have  never  known  of  him  be- 
ing absent.  5.  Did  he  tell  you  about  me  having  an  interest  in  it  ?  6.  The 
judge  insisted  on  them  answering  the  question.  7.  Her  signing  the  paper  set- 
tled the  whole  matter.  8.  You  asking  the  question  set  him  to  thinking. 

237.  Fact  4.      The  form  of  a  pronoun  in  apposition  depends 
upon  whether  it  stands  in  apposition  with  a  subject  or  an  object. 

[  For  examples  of  correct  usage,  see  Fact  i,  example  8,  and  Fact  2,  example  4.] 

(a)  The  form  of  a  pronoun  after  the  comparatives  as,  and  than, 
depends  upon  whether  it  is  compared  with  a  subject  or  an  object. 

Examples  :  I  am  not  so  tall  as  he  [  is  ].  I  admire  it  as  much  as  he  [  does]. 
I  admire  it  as  much  as  [  I  admire  ]  him.  I  care  more  for  you  than  he  [  cares  for 
you].  I  care  more  for  you  than  [  I  care  for  ]  him. 

(b)  The  form  of  a  pronoun  after  but  depends  upon  whether  the 
exception  is  asserted  of  a  subject  or  an  object.     [See  376.] 

Examples  :  No  one  else  cared  for  me  but  he — [cared  for  me].  He  cared  for 
no  one  but  me — [but  he  cared  for  me]. 

Correct  the  following : 

I.  The  teacher  gave  we  boys  a  half  holiday.  2.  Us  girls  are  studying  short- 
hand and  typewriting.  3.  I  have  great  respect  for  a  morally  brave  man,  he  who 
dares  to  do  right  under  all  circumstances.  4.  Will  you  reject  Christ  ? — He  who 
died  for  you?  5.  Can  you  not  trust  me  ? — I  who  have  always  befriended  you  ? 

Explain  how  the  following  may  be  either  correct  or  incorrect : 

6.  I  do  not  enjoy  fishing  as  well  as  him.  7.  The  changes  in  the  weather  al- 
ways affect  you  more  than  I.  8.  Who  does  more  for  him  than  us?  9.  You 
knew  more  about  it  than  him.  10.  You  care  more  for  that  than  me.  n.  I  like 
you  as  well  as  them.  12.  He  annoyed  me  more  than  her.  13.  They  have  more 
confidence  in  you  than  me. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  103 

238.  Fact  5.    The  number  of  a  pronoun  should  agree  with 
the  number  of  its  antecedent. 

Examples  :     Each  man  gave  attention  to  his  own  duties.     The  travelers  fully 
realized  their  peril. 

Remarks. — Violations  of  this  fact  occur  in  the  following  ways : 

1.  When  the  pronoun  refers  to  one  of  the  indefinite  pronouns,  each,  either, 
or  neither  (92),  or  when  the  antecedent  is  limited  by  one  of  these  words  ;  as, 
"  Each  man  was  given  their  pay."  Say  'his  pay.'    "  Neither  of  them  saved  their 
money," — '  his  ( or  her}  money.'    "  Each  one  in  favor  of  the  motion  may  signify 
it  by  raising  their  right  hand," — '  his  right  hand.'     [  See  378.  ] 

2.  When  there  is  a  compound  antecedent  introduced  by  neither ,  and  con- 
nected by  nor  ;  or  introduced  by  either  and  connected  by  or  ;  as,  "  Neither  James 
nor  John  wasted  their  time."     Say  *  his  time.'     "  Either  James  or  John  was  dis- 
satisfied with  their  teacher," — '  his  teacher.' 

3.  When  the  antecedent  is  one  of  the  members  of  a  compound  element 
(usually  the  subject),  but  emphatically  distinguished  by  not ;  as,  "The  man  and 
not  the  boy  offered  their  assistance," — '  his  assistance.' 

4.  When  the  antecedent  is  a  collective  noun  used  in  a  singular  sense  (  79  d)  ; 
as,  "  The  firm  was  ready  to  move  into  their  new  store."    Say  '  its  new  store.' 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following:     [Two  are  correct] 

1.  Each  one  of  them   expressed  their  opinion.      2.   Each  must  answer  for 
themselves.     3.  Each  man   undertook  to   defend  themselves.     4.  Neither  boy 
treated  their  parents  with  respect.      5.  Either  Jane  or  Mary  had  lost  their  hat. 
6.  Not  one  of  them  saw  his  mistake.     7.  The  girl  and  not  her  mother  broke 
their  arm.     8.  Each  of  them  in  their  turn  receive  the  benefits  to  which  they 
are  entitled.     9.    Each    of  the    boys    cheerfully   do    their  part  of  the   work. 

10.  Neither  man  is  willing  to  apologize  to  the  other   for  their  unkindness. 

11.  Each  of  the  clerks  look  after  their  employer's  interests  so  they  may  secure 
promotion.     12.  One  or  the  other  were  wrong  in  their  view  of  it.     13.  Every 
one  should  give  their  name  and  address  each  time  they  write.     14.  Neither  of 
them  needs  his  money.     15.  The  society  has  just  published  their  annual  report. 

MISCELLANEOUS  ERRORS. 

239.  i.  The  use  of  a  pronoun   and  its   antecedent  as  the  subject  of  the 
same  sentence  ;  as,  "  George  he  promised  to  come  with  me."    Omit  he. 

2.  The  use  of  hern,  ourn,  yourn,  and  hisn,  for  her  own,  or  hers,  our  own,  or 
ours,  etc. ;  also  the  use  of  hisself  for  himself;  as,  "  The  fault  was  hern  not 
mine."     "He  hurt  hisself  badly."      Say  'The  fault  was  hers  (or  'her  own'). 
'  He  hurt  himself  badly/ 


104  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

3.  Using  the  sign  of  possession  with  the  possessive  form  of  pronouns ;  as, 
y  our's,  their 's,  your's,  it's.     Leave  the  apostrophe  out. 

4.  Using    the  pronoun   them    for    the  adjective    those ;  as,    "  Did  you  ask 
for  them  books?  "    "  Them  boys  are  happy."    Say  '  those  books ; '  *  those  boys.' 

5.  Using  it's  for  'tis;  as,  "  It's  only  a  question  of  time."    "It's  useless  to 
argue  with  him."    Say  *  'Tis  only  a  question  of  time.'     *  "Tis  useless  to  argue 
with  him.' 

6.  Using  who  to  relate  to  animals  or  inanimate  objects  ;  as,  "  The  dog  who 
met  us  at  the  gate  looked  ferocious."     Say  *  that '  or  *  which  met  us  at  the  gate.' 
[  See  85,  Remark,  and  347  b  and  c.  ] 

7.  Each  other,   One  another.— Each  other  applies  to  but  two ;  one  an- 
other applies  to  a  larger  number.    "  The  two  are  closely  related  to  one  another." 
Say  ' to  each  other'    "  The  seven  differed  from  each  other."    Say  '  one  another.' 

8.  Something    for    somewhat. — Using  the  pronoun  '  something '  for    the 
adverb  *  somewhat ;'  as,  "  They  look  something  alike."     Say  '  somewhat  alike.' 

9.  Myself. — This  pronoun  may  be  used  as  a  reflexive  object  ( 218  b )  or  in  ap- 
position for  the  sake  of  emphasis ;  but  otherwise,  not  as  the  subject  or  the 
direct  object  of  a  verb.     Hence,  "  They  invited  John  and  myself,"  "Mrs.  A.  and 
tnyself"  is  incorrect.    Use  me  or  /instead  of  myself. 

10.  Somebody  else's,  Anyone  else's.— These  and  similar  expressions  are 
now  regarded  as  having  a  unitary  meaning,  as  if  one  word,  and  properly  take  the 
sign  of  the  possessive  case  at  the  end  of  the  phrase:  as,  "This  is  somebody  else's 
hat,"  "Nobody  else's  children  act  so." 

MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES  TO  BE  CORRECTED. 

[  Four  are  correct.  ] 

240.  I.  No  one  else  was  hurt  but  he.  2.  Nobody  came  but  them.  3.  Some 
one  else's  voice  was  heard.  4.  Nobody's  else  would  do.  5.  My  wife  and  myself 
shall  be  glad  to  see  you.  6.  There  aint  any  use  in  trying  to  please  him.  7.  I 
haint  heard  from  him  for  a  long  time.  8.  It's  difficult  to  hear  it's  voice.  9.  If 
you  find  a  noun  or  pronoun  you  must  parse  them.  10.  The  horse  who  refused 
to  go  knew  more  than  him.  n.  They  are  all  here  but  her.  12.  If  any  one 
doubts  my  word  let  them  say  so.  13.  To  who  did  you  lend  my  knife  ? 
14.  There  are  people  whom  might  be  trusted.  15.  Who  did  you  write  to? 
16.  Are  you  older  than  him?  17.  That's  her.  18.  I  told  you  it  was  them. 

19.  The  majority  was  disposed  to  adopt  the  measure  which  they  at  first  opposed. 

20.  They  were  all  frightened  but  I.    21.  Charles  he  knew  that  his  father  objected 
to  him  going.    22.  Did  you  hear  about  me  being  sick?      23.  We  regret  our  not 
being  able  to  accommodate  you.    24.  Where  did  you  get  them  apples  ?     25.  That 
is  something  like  a  story  I  heard  yesterday. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH,.  105 


FACTS  ABOUT  ADJECTIVES  AND  ADVERBS. 

Remark. — The  two  modifying  parts  of  speech,  adjectives  and  adverbs,  are  so 
similar  in  many  respects  that  the  facts  concerning  them  and  the  errors  in  their 
use  can  be  treated  side  by  side  better  than  separately. 

241.  Fact  1.  Position  and  Order  of  Adjectives. — Adjectives 
are  usually  placed  before  the  nouns  they  qualify  though  they 
sometimes  follow  them.  They  should  not  be  unnecessarily  sepa- 
rated from  their  nouns.  ( 52  a. ) 

Note  i. — When  two  or  more  adjectives  are  used  to  qualify  a  noun,  the  one  most  closely  con- 
nected with  the  object  described  is  placed  next  the  noun,  and  the  others  are  arranged  in  like 
order,— the  one  least  connected  with  it  being  placed  farthest  from  the  noun.  If  the  adjectives 
follow  instead  of  precede  the  noun,  this  order  is  reversed.  When  there  is  no  difference  in  the 
rank  or  importance  of  the  adjectives,  they  should  be  placed  in  the  order  that  will  sound  best, 
the  longest  usually  nearest  the  nouns  they  limit. 

Examples :  The  frail  little  craft  bounded  over  the  clear  blue  waves.  The 
dew  drops  on  the  sweet-scented  clover  sparkle  in  the  morning  sunlight.  A 
dilapidated  wooden  building  was  all  that  remained.  The  old  oaken  bucket,  the 
iron-bound  bucket. 

"  Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene, 
The  dark  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear." 

Note  2.— The  words./?^  and  last,  when  used  with  numeral  adjectives  to  limit  nouns,  are 
placed  before  the  numeral ;  as— The  first  ten  pages ;  the  last  two  hours ;  the  first  two  houses. 

Correct  the  following : 

i.  A  young,  wide-awake,  industrious  man  is  wanted.  2.  A  large,  brick,  new 
house  has  been  built  there.  3.  The  golden,  beautiful  sunset  delighted  us. 
4.  A  banquet,  silver,  handsome  lamp  was  presented.  5.  You  may  have  the  two 
first  trees  in  each  of  the  three  first  rows.  6.  He  bought  a  gold,  large,  pen. 
7.  The  decrepit,  old,  poor  man  needs  help.  8.  Mr.  A.  drives  a  bay,  fine  horse. 

Remark. — Probably  the  most  common  error  in  the  position  of  adjectives 
consists  in  placing  descriptive  adjectives  so  that  they  qualify  the  amount  or 
quantity  of  a  thing  mentioned  instead  of  describing  the  thing  itself;  thus — 

A  new  box  of  books ;  a  hot  pail  of  water ;  a  ripe  basket  of  fruit ;  a  new  load 
of  hay ;  an  old  barrel  of  clothes ;  a  new  stock  of  goods;  the  cold  cup  of  water; 
a  green  load  of  wood;  a  fresh  bunch  of  flowers ;  a  new  pair  of  shoes. 

24:2.  Fact  2.  Position  of  Adverbs. — Adverbs  are  generally 
placed  before  adjectives  or  adverbs,  after  a  single  verb,  or  after 
the  first  word  in  a  verb-phrase.  ( 52  b,  c. ) 

Example  :    He  is  very  attentive,  behaves  quite  well,  and  is  highly  esteemed. 


106  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

Remark.  —  The  position  of  such  adverbs  as  only,  also,  and  merely,  depends  so 
much  upon  the  meaning  to  be  conveyed  that  we  cannot  always  decide  whether 
the  adverb  is  correctly  or  incorrectly  placed  unless  we  know  what  the  speaker 
or  writer  means  to  say.  Thus,  in  '  We  only  saw  Charles,'  and  '  We  saw  only 
Charles  '  (or  'We  saw  Charles  only,'  )  we  have  a  different  meaning,  though  each 
of  the  sentences  is  correct.  The  first  conveys  the  idea  that  we  only  saw 
Charles,  —  that  we  did  not  speak  to  him,  or  something  of  that  kind.  The  other 
means  that  we  saw  only  Charles  ;  that  is,  we  did  not  see  anyone  but  Charles. 

Correct  such  of  the  following  sentences  as  are  obviously  incor- 
rect. In  the  others,  change  the  position  of  the  adverb  and  note 
the  change  in  meaning  : 

I.  I  like  never  to  hear  a  person  slander  his  neighbor.  2.  He  has  been  misin- 
formed certainly.  3.  I  only  can  hope  for  that.  4.  We  are  only  following  your 
orders.  5.  He  was  only  elected  last  week.  6.  They  have  only  been  requested 
to  sell  three  of  them.  7.  I  never  intend  to  go  there  again.  8.  The  woman  and 
child  were  only  saved.  9.  Do  not  merely  read  this  page  but  read  the  other  also. 
10.  If  you  wish  to  teach  the  science  of  your  language  only,  you  may  not  be 
pleased  with  this  work.  n.  The  French  nearly  lost  five  thousand  men. 
12.  The  productions  mostly  consist  of  corn  and  cotton.  13.  The  Indians  chiefly 
subsist  by  hunting  and  fishing.  14.  I  only  spoke  to  him  ;  I  did  not  speak  to 
anyone  else.  15.  He  is  considered  generally  insane. 

Note.—  AM  adverb  should  never  be  placed  between  an  infinitive  verb  and  its  "  sign  "  or  be- 
tween a  verb  and  its  infinitive  object. 

16.  We  are  now  prepared  to  promptly  fill  all  orders.  1  7.  It  began  to  slowly  dis- 
appear. 18.  You  can  depend  upon  him  to  faithfully  serve  you.  19.  It  is  unwise 
to  hastily  decide  such  a  question.  20.  You  should  learn  carefully  to  choose 
your  words.  21.  They  are  not  disposed  to  quietly  submit  to  the  injustice. 
22.  He  has  been  heard  repeatedly  to  say  it.  23.  We  were  too  busy  to  then  at- 
tend to  the  matter.  24.  I  hope  to  soon  return.  25.  They  were  obliged  to  forci- 
bly take  possession. 

243.  Fact  3.  When  a  verb  asserts  an  action  on  the  part  of 
the  subject,  the  qualifying  word  that  follows  the  verb  is  an  ad- 
verb ;  but  when  the  verb  asserts  merely  a  quality  of  the  subject, 
or  its  being  (  existence  )  in  a  certain  state,  it  (  the  verb  )  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  adjective. 

Examples  :  The  sea  was  calm.  He  spoke  calmly.  The  water  looks  clear. 
Now  we  see  clearly.  She  appears  (  '  seems  '  )  anxious.  They  listened  anxiously. 
The  tree  stands  firm.  He  held  on  firmly.  [See  352  d.  ] 


.  —  There  is  an  apparent  exception  to  Fact  4,  in  such  sertences  as  "  The  eagle  flies  high  ;  " 
but  in  such  cases  the  word  in  question  may  be  used  either  as  an  adjective  or  as  an  adverb.  (106  a.} 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  107 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following  :     [Three  are  correct.] 

i.  The  vessel  arrived  safely.  2.  The  post  stood  firmly.  3.  He  walked  quiet. 
4.  He  spoke  hasty.  5.  He  stood  idly,  watching  the  men  at  work.  6.  They  ride 
rapid.  7.  It  tastes  sweetly.  8.  She  smiled  sweet.  9.  He  spoke  plain,  distinct, 
and  correct.  10.  His  strength  is  near  gone.  n.  The  work  is  easy  done.  12.  1 
stepped  softly.  13.  The  cushion  feels  softly.  14.  That  sounds  harsh.  15.  They 
reached  home  safe.  16.  He  sees  good  for  one  so  old.  17.  No  one  could  say  it 
more  forcible  than  he  could.  18.  That  boy  works  good.  19.  He  behaves  bad. 
20.  It  looks  badly.  21.  He  looks  sickly. 

244.  Fact  4.  Many  adjectives  and  a  few  adverbs  are  regu- 
larly compared  by  adding  the  suffixes  er  and  est,  or  the  prefixes 
more  and  mos/}  to  the  positive  degree  in  ascending  comparison, 
or  in  prefixing  less  and  least  in  the  descending  comparison. 

[  For  examples,  see  147  and  151.  ] 

( a )  The  comparative  degree  is  used  when  two  objects  are  compared ;  the 
superlative  or  sublative  when  more  than  two  are  compared. 

Examples :  He  is  the  taller  of  the  two.  She  is  the  youngest  of  the  three. 
Ruth  is  less  handsome  than  Jane,  but  she  is  the  more  intelligent  of  the  two. 

( b)  Some  adjectives  do  not  admit  comparison.     ( 149. ) 

(c)  Double  comparisons  are  incorrect.     (149,  Note.) 

( d)  When  an  object  is  compared  with  all  others  of  its  kind,  the  word  other 
should  follow  the  comparative  than. 

Example :    Bert  is  quicker  than  any  other  boy  in  school. 

If  other  were  left  out  of  this  sentence,  it  would  mean  that  Bert  is  not  in 
school ;  or,  if  he  is  known  to  be  one  of  the  school,  the  sentence  without  other 
would  mean  that  Bert  is  quicker  than  himself, — which  is  absurd. 

This  amounts  to  a  superlative  comparison,  for  the  example  above  is  equiva- 
lent to  "Bert  is  the  quickest  boy  in  school."  The  following  sentence  will 
further  illustrate  this  point : 

This  paper  has  a  larger  circulation  than  any  other  in  Ohio. 

To  say  that  "  This  paper  has  the  largest  circulation  of  any  in  Ohio,"  or  "  of 
any  other  in  Ohio,"  would  be  self-contradictory  and  absurd.  We  may,  however, 
employ  the  superlative  form  of  comparison  in  such  sentences  by  using  of  all 
and  omitting  any,  other  >  or  any  other  ;  thus — 

This  paper  has  the  largest  circulation  of  all  [  the  papers  ]  in  Ohio;  or,  Of  all 
the  papers  in  Ohio,  this  [paper]  has  the  largest  circulation. 


108  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :    [Three  are  correct.  ] 

i.  He  is  the  smallest  of  the  two.  2.  Of  the  two  she  is  the  thoughtfulest. 
3.  Which  is  the  largest  end  ?  4.  Which  is  the  broadest,  the  top  or  the  bottom  ? 
5.  Which  is  the  oldest,  you  or  John  ?  6.  Which  is  the  tallest,  Henry  or  James  ? 
7.  This  is  the  better  of  the  two.  8.  This  horse  trots  the  fastest  of  the  two. 

9.  Of  the  two  machines,  that  one  costs   the  most,  but  it  is  the  easiest  sold. 

10.  He  was  the  most  forlornest  looking  object  I  ever  saw.     n.   She  is  more 
carefuler  than  she  was  formerly.     12.  He  is  less  particular  now.     13.  A  more 
happier  pair  you  never  met.     14.  This  is  a  more  quicker  way.     15.  He  was  the 
most  wittiest  person   I   ever  met.     16.   They  bought  a  more   cheaper  kind. 
17.   It  is  the   most  perfect  work.     18.   That  is  the  most  complete  cyclopedia 
published.     19.  This  was  more  universal  than  that.     20.  A  more  hopeless  case 
could  not  be  imagined.     21.  The  large  box  was  the  nearest  empty.     22.  This 
store  sells  more  goods  than  any  store  in  this  city.     23.  We  do  the  largest  whole- 
sale business  of  any  other  firm  in  the  West. 

245.  Fact  5.  The  demonstrative  adjectives  this  and  that 
change  their  form  to  agree  with  the  number  of  the  noun  they 

limit.      [For  examples,  see  paragraph  150.] 

Note. — An  error  in  the  use  of  these  and  those  is  usually  followed  by  an  error  in  the  verb- 
form,  as,  "  These  kind  at  e  very  rare."  Say  '  This  kind  is  '—etc. 

( a )  The  indefinite  article  an  drops  the  n  before  words  begin- 
ning with  a  consonant  sound.  [  See  150  a  and  349  £.] 

Correct  the  following: 

I.  He  is  a  honest  man.  2.  The  child  had  an  large  apple.  3.  He  gave  me  a 
answer.  4.  The  train  is  a  hour  late.  5.  He  was  given  a  opportunity.  6.  A 
ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  more  than  an  hundred  pounds  of  cure.  7.  War 
calls  out  many  an  hero,  and  exhibits  many  an  heroic  act.  8.  These  class  of 
goods  are  not  profitable.  9.  Those  kind  are  less  expensive. 

24:6.  Fact  6.  When  two  negative  words  are  used  in  the 
same  clause,  the  second  destroys  the  first. 

Correct  the  following : 

i.  I  don't  want  no  coffee.  2.  He  didn't  have  no  money.  3.  He  can't  say 
nothing  to  you.  4.  He  doesn't  know  nothing  about  it  5.  She  doesn't  go  no- 
where. 6.  He  doesn't  stop  for  nothing. 

MISCELLANEOUS  ERRORS. 
247.     i.  An  (ora)  is  incorrectly  used  after  kind,  sort,  and  similar  words 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  109 

/ 

followed  by  of.     Thus,  "  Do  you  know  what  kind  of  an  apple  that  is ?  "    "I 
never  heard  of  that  sort  of  a  machine."     Omit  the  an  ( or  a)  after  of. 

2.  Afraid. — This  adjective  is  much  used  as  though  it  were  a  transitive  verb; 
as,  "I  am  afraid  that  it  is  lost."     "  He  is  afraid  you  will  get  hurt."    "  We  were 
afraid  that  he  would  be  defeated."     The  correct  word  in  such  sentences  is  the 
transitive  verbjfazr.     Say  '  I  fear  [that]  it  is  lost.'     '  He  fears  you  will  get  hurt.' 
'We  feared  that ' — etc.    (207  a,  Remark.) 

3.  Already. — This  adverb  is  very  often  misused  or,  rather,  misplaced,  prin- 
cipally by  those  of  German  birth  and  rearing.     Thus,  it  is  common  to  hear  such 
expressions  as  "  I  knew  that  already,"  "  I  have  finished  it  already."    The  awk- 
wardness of  these  and  similar  sentences  comes  from  using  already  after  the 
predicate  instead  of  placing  it  before  the  verb  or  between  the  two  parts  of  the 
verb-phrase,  thus  :    "  I  already  knew  that."     "  I  have  already  finished  it."    How- 
ever, the  "  already,"  in  such  sentences  as  the  last  one,  is  really  superfluous. 

4.  Back  for  ago. — "I  heard  from  him  awhile  back."     "  I  saw  him  some  time 
back."     Say  '  awhile  ago,'  '  some  time  ago.' 

5.  Better  for  more. — "  It  is  better  than  a  week  since  I  saw  him."     Say  '  It  is 
more  than  a  week  since  I  saw  him.' 

6.  Good. — This  already  overworked  adjective  is  made  to  do  service  for  the 
adverb  well;  as,  "  She  sings  good."     "He  writes  good"    Say  'She  sings  well.' 
'He  writes  well.' 

7.  Here  and  There. — These  two  adverbs  are  incorrectly  used  after  the  ad- 
verbs this  and  that;   as,  "This  here  book  is  more  interesting  than  that  there 
one."     Say  '  This  book  is  more  interesting  than  that  one.' 

8.  How  for  that. — The  adverb  how  is  sometimes  incorrectly  used  for  the  con- 
junction that;  as,  "  Did  I  tell  you  how  he  thought  we  ought  to  allow  him  a  dis- 
count ?  "     Say  '  he  thought  that ' — etc. 

9.  Least.—"  Of  two  evils  choose  the  least."    Say  *  the  less: 

10.  Most  for  almost. — In  the  following,  and  similar  sentences,  the  adjective 
most  is  incorrectly  used  for  the  adverb  almost:  "I  see  him  most  everyday." 
"We  are  most  there."  "  He  was  most  starved."  Say  '  almost  every  day,' — etc. 

n.  Past  for  by. — The  adjective  past  is  very  commonly  misused  for  the  prep- 
osition by;  as,  "Have  you  seen  him  go  past  here  lately?"  "I  went  past  his 
house  yesterday."  Say  '  by  here ; '  '  by  his  house.' 

Past  is  correctly  used  as  an  adverb  when  there  is  no  object  following  it ;  as, 
"  The  bullets  whistled  past." 

"  At  times,  from  the  fortress  across  the  bay, 
The  alarum  of  drums  swept  past." — Longfellow. 


110  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

12.  Plenty  for  plentiful.— The  noun  plenty  is  incorrectly  used  for  the  ad- 
jective plentiful  in  such  sentences  as,  "  Peaches  are  plenty  this  year." 

13.  Real,  which  is  an  adjective,  is  often  incorrectly  used  in  the  place  of  very 
or  quite  to  modify  a  verb  or  an  adjective ;  as,  "  I  ain  real  glad  to  see  you."     "  It 
looks  real  nice."     Say  '  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you.'     'It  looks  very  nice.' 

14.  Since  for  ago. — "  He  visited  us  about  two  weeks  since.'"     Say  '  two  weeks 
ago?    Since  has  reference  to  a  lapse  of  time  ;  as,  "  It  is  a  year  since  I  saw  him." 

15.  Some. — This  adjective  is  often  misused  for  the  adverb  somewhat,  as  in 
the  following  sentences :     "  I  am  some  tired."     "  They  were  some  weary  with 
their  long  tramp."     Say  '  I  am  somewhat  tired.'     '  They  were  somewhat ' — etc. 

16.  Sociable  for  social.— The  adjective  sociable  is  often  misused  for  social, 
both  as  a  noun  and  as  an  adjective.    Thus,  "  A  sociable  ( or  '  sociable  gathering ' ) 
will  be  held  at  Mr.  D.'s  house  next  Wednesday  evening."     Say  'asocial'  or  'a 
social  gathering.'     "  Sociable  "  is  an  adjective  applicable  only  to  persons. 

17.  Sooner  for  rather. — "  I  would  sooner  go  than  not."     Say  '  I  would  rather 
go  than  not.' 

18.  Such  a  for  so. — The  use  of  the  adjective-phrase  such  a  ('kind')   for  the 
adverb  so  is  a  very  common  error ;  as,  "  I  never  saw  such  a  large  apple,"  which 
means,  literally  taken,  '  I  never  saw  a  large  apple  of  that  kind.'    It  should  be, 
'  I  never  saw  so  large  an  apple.'    ( 69*. ) 

19.  The  "  Articles."— In  comparing  a  thing  with  itself  in  different  capacities, 
the  article  should  not  be  used  a  second  time.    Thus — "  That  horse  is  a  better 
pacer  than  trotter,"  means  that  the  horse  paces  better  than  he  trots.     But  if  we 
should  say  "  That  horse  is  a  better  pacer  than  a  trotter,"  our  language  would 
mean  that  the  horse  paces  better  than  a  trotting  horse  paces.     So  the  sentences^ 

Corporal  Brown  was  as  good  a  fighter  as  an  officer, 
Mr.  Bdwards  is  a  better  teacher  than  a  minister, 

do  not  mean  the  same  as  when  the  an  (or  a)  is  omitted  after  the  comparatives 
than  and  as.  So  we  find  that  the  article,  though  a  little  word,  is  sometimes 
a  very  important  one.  Its  use  or  omission  may  change  the  meaning  of  the 
entire  sentence. 

(a)  When  connected  adjectives  describe  the  same  thing,  the  article  should 
not  be  used,  except  before  the  first  descriptive  ;  but  if  the  adjectives  describe 
different  things,  the  article  should  be  repeated.     Thus,  "  a  red  and  white  flag'" 
means  one  flag,  while  "  a  red  and  a  white  flag  "  means  two  flags. 

( b )  When  connected  nouns  denote  different  things,  the  article  should  be  re- 
peated, but  if  the  nouns  are  but  different  names  for  the  same  thing,  the  article 
should  not  be  repeated;  thus,  "the  cashier  and  the  bookkeeper"  means  two 
persons,  while  "  the  cashier  and  bookkeeper  "  means  one. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  Ill 

(c)  The  article  should  not  be  used  before  a  title  or  name  used  merely  as 
such;  as,  "The  Queen  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  Earl "  (not  an  Earl.) 
"  The  youngest  son  of  a  duke  is  called  Marquis  "  ( not  a  Marquis. ) 

20.  Very. — This  word  is  sometimes  incorrectly  used  to  modify  the  perfect 
participle  of  a  verb  ;  as,  "  She  is  a  very  educated  woman."   "  He  was  very  pleased 
to  hear  from  you."     Say  '  very  well  educated ; '  '  very  much  pleased.' 

21.  What  for?  for  why?  as,  "  What  did  you  do  that  for?"  or,  worse  still, 
"  What  for  did  you  do  that?  "     Say,  merely,  '  Why  did  you  do  that  ? ' 

22.  Whether  or  no. — This  expression  is  incorrect.     The  adverb  should  be 
not — '  whether  or  not ; '  as,  "  I  shall  go  whether  or  not,"  the  meaning  of  which  is, 
'  I  shall  go  whether  [  it  rains  ]  or  [  does  ]  not '  [  rain  ],  or  something  of  that  kind. 
"  You  must  do  it  whether  or  not ;  "  that  is,  *  whether  [you  will  ]  or  [will  ]  not? 

23.  Worse  for  more. — "  I  want  to  see  him  worse  than  ever."    Say  '  more 
than  ever.' 

MISCELLANEOUS   EXERCISES  TO  BE  CORRECTED. 
[  Three  are  correct.  ] 

248.  i.  It  was  such  a  warm  day.  2.  Of  two  methods  adopt  the  shortest. 
3.  The  old  woman  has  a  fresh  basket  of  eggs.  4.  You  must  go  whether  or  no. 
5.  The  boy  worked  faithful.  6.  The  deep  cannon's  roar  aroused  them.  7.  The 
clock  ticks  softly.  8.  The  speaker  only  talked  of  a  few  things.  9.  The  shrill 
whistle's  scream  broke  the  solemn  night's  stillness.  10.  Not  only  he  was  poor 
but  lazy.  n.  It  requires  a  few  comparatively  short  years.  12.  They  are  most 
done.  13.  We  have  a  fine  lot  of  silk  ladies'  gloves.  14.  Otherwise,  the  parties 
will  not  only  be  disappointed  but  the  goods  will  be  left  on  our  hands.  15.  The 
boat  glides  smooth.  16.  He  owned  a  rich  tract  of  land.  17.  Did  you  ever  see 
such  a  careless  fellow  ?  18.  He  is  older  than  any  one  in  his  family.  19.  The  flea 
can  jump  farther  than  any  insect  of  its  size.  20.  The  tree  is  forty  feet  high. 
21.  Will  you  buy  two  pair  of  boots?  22.  Which  of  them  two  boys  can  ride  the 
best  ?  23.  It  is  not  such  a  great  distance  as  I  thought  it  was.  24.  Which  is  the 
oldest  of  the  two  ?  25.  He  had  two  coats,  an  old  and  new  one.  26.  The  elephant 
has  a  powerful  and  a  flexible  trunk,  which  he  always  carries  with  him  on  a 
journey.  27.  I  counted  thirteen  sails  of  vessels  lying  at  anchor  in  the  stream. 
28.  The  bear  was  hungry  and  began  to  growl  savage.  29.  He  rode  past  me  so 
quick  I  scarce  saw  him.  30.  That  is  easier  said  than  done.  31.  I  am  real  hungry. 
32.  She  never  considers  the  quality,  but  merit  of  her  visitors.  33.  I  was  aware 
of  that  already.  34.  What  do  you  suppose  he  asked  that  question  for?  35.  He 
would  make  a  better  farmer  than  a  lawyer.  36.  It  is  our  intention  to  still 
further  reduce  the  running  expenses.  37.  This  paper  has  a  larger  circulation 
than  any  other  paper  in  the  world.  38.  Of  all  her  classmates,  that  girl  is  the 
brightest.  39.  This  kind  of  an  error  is  very  common. 


112  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 


FACTS  ABOUT  VERBS. 

249.  Fact  1.  In  asserting  present  action,  possession,  or  ex- 
istence, or  past  existence,  the  singular  or  the  plural  form  of  a 
verb  is  used  according  as  it  is  necessary  to  have  it  agree  with  a 
singular  or  plural  subject. 

Exception  :  The  pronoun  /takes  the  plural  form  of  the  verb  to  agree  wit'i 
it  as  the  first  person  singular,  except  when  mere  present  or  past  existence  ii, 
asserted  by  am  or  was.  [  For  examples,  see  paragraphs  157-8-9.  ] 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :   [Three  are  correct.  ] 

I.  The  men  quits  work  at  six  o'clock.  2.  The  trains  was  late.  3.  How  does 
your  plans  succeed  ?  4.  The  skies  was  clear.  5.  The  clouds  has  disappeared. 
6.  The  stars  shines.  7.  Those  papers  is  valuable.  8.  I  see  him  almost  every 
day.  9.  You  was  absent.  10.  There  is  several  waiting.  1 1.  They  was  delighted 
with  the  pictures.  12.  We  was  disappointed.  13.  The  switchmen  has  struck. 
14.  Five  clerks  was  employed.  15.  The  books  is  interesting.  16.  The  nights 
was  clear.  17.  The  days  is  getting  longer.  18.  Their  prices  seem  reasonable. 
19.  The  cars  goes  slowly  across  the  bridge.  20.  The  farmers  works  hard. 

Remark. — Errors  in  the  number-form  of  the  verb  are  most  likely  to  occur  when  the  singular 
subject  is  followed  by  a  phrase  containing  a  plural  noun. 

21.  A  pound  of  raisins  cost  twenty  cents.  22.  The  book  of  laws  were  lost. 
23.  A  carload  of  horses  were  shipped  last  week.  24.  The  number  of  depositors 
have  greatly  increased.  25.  A  bill  of  the  goods  were  forwarded.  26.  None  of 
the  men  understand  you. 

(a)  Nouns  that  have  but  one  form  for  both  numbers  (132) 
require  the  singular  or  the  plural  verb,  according  to  the  sense  in 
which  they  are  used.     Thus,  we  say — 

'  The  sheep  were  sheared,'  or  '  the  sheep  was  sheared.'  '  Deer  like  salt/  or 
'  a  deer  likes  salt.'  '  These  fish  are  fresh,'  or  « this  fish  is  fresh.' 

Remark.— Whether  the  noun  in  such  cases  is  used  in  the  singular  or  plural  sense  may  gen- 
erally be  known  by  the  article  or  the  demonstrative  preceding  it.  ( 245. ) 

(b)  When  the  subject  is  a  collective  noun  (79  d)  in  the  singu- 
lar, the  singular  form  of  the  verb  is  used  if  reference  is  made 
to  the  body  or  collection  as  a  whole  ;  but  if  the  individuals  are 
referred  to,  the  plural  form  of  the  verb  is  used. 

Examples :    The  audience  was  composed  of  men  and  boys.    The  audience 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  113 

were  pleased  with  the  lecture.     The  army  was  defeated.    The  army  were  loyal 
to  their  commander. 

Remark. — Pleasure  and  loyalty  are  qualities  which  cannot  be  asserted  of  collections. 

( c )  When  the  subject  is  plural  in  form,  though  either  singular 
or  plural  in  sense,  the  plural  form  of  the  verb  is  used. 

Examples  :  The  goods  have  been  forwarded  by  express.  The  assets  of  the 
firm  are  as  follow.  His  remains  rest  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Note. — When  the  plural-form  noun  may  be  displaced  by  a  synonym  having  the  singular 
form,  the  singular  of  the  verb  may  be  used.  The  news  ('  intelligence'  or  '  information  '}  was 
gladly  received. 

27.  Those  cannon  was  captured  at  Gettysburg.  28.  That  trout  were  hard  to 
catch.  29.  The  committee  were  composed  of  two  ladies  and  one  gentleman. 
30.  The  committee  are  ready  to  report.  31.  The  army  were  disbanded.  32.  The 
crowd  was  impatient.  33.  The  congregation  were  large.  34.  The  class  are 
small.  35.  The  class  was  disappointed.  36.  The  crew  was  cruelly  treated. 
37.  The  crew  were  reduced  in  numbers.  38.  The  crowd  are  very  noisy.  39.  The 
fleet  of  vessels  are  a  pretty  sight.  40.  A  party  of  friends  is  coming.  41.  Our 
party  were  made  up  of  ladies  and  gentlemen.  42.  The  number  of  mistakes 
were  a  matter  of  surprise  to  us.  43.  A  number  of  mistakes  was  made.  44.  The 
scissors  was  lost.  45.  The  ashes  is  in  the  way.  46.  Molasses  has  risen  in  price. 
47.  His  clothes  was  ruined. 

Use  each  of  the  following  words  as  the  subject  of  a  sentence  :  Shears,  wages, 
measles,  riches,  tongs,  mumps. 

250.  Fact  2.  Whether  the  singular  or  plural  form  of  a  verb 
shall  be  used  with  a  compound  subject  depends  upon  whether 
the  assertion  is  made  about  one  thing  or  more  than  one. 

[  For  examples,  see  paragraph  155.  ] 

(a)  Singular  subjects  connected  by  and  require  the  plural 
form  of  the  verb. 

Exception  /.  When  the  nouns  connected  by  and  form  a  single  name,  or  re- 
fer to  the  same  person,  the  singular  form  of  the  verb  is  used ;  as,  "  The  wife 
and  mother  kneels  in  prayer."  "  The  husband  and  father  was  gone." 

Exception  2.  When  the  nouns  connected  by  and  are  emphatically  distin- 
guished by  each,  every,  or  no,  the  singular  form  of  the  verb  is  used ;  as,  "  Each 
day  and  each  hour  gives  opportunities." 

Exceptions.  When  nouns  of  different  numbers  are  connected  by  and,  fol- 
lowed by  not,  the  verb  agrees  with  the  first  one  ;  as,  "  Money  and  not  promises 
is  what  we  want."  "  Votes  and  not  talk  were  what  the  candidate  needed." 


114  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

(b)  Singular  subjects  connected  by  or  or  nor,  or  by  any  con- 
junction that  emphatically  distinguishes  one  of  the  subjects  from 
the  other,  require  the  singular  form  of  the  verb. 

Examples :  Either  the  horse  or  the  cow  is  to  be  sold.  Neither  the  President 
nor  his  secretary  was  present.  The  man  as  well  as  the  boy  was  guilty.  Wheat 
but  not  corn  was  raised  there  in  abundance. 

Exception  i.  When  the  members  of  a  compound  subject  connected  by  or  or 
nor  are  of  different  numbers,  the  verb  agrees  with  the  last  one  ;  as,  "  Either  he 
or  they  are  to  blame."  "  One  or  both  were  present."  "  Either  you  or  he  is  re- 
sponsible." "  Neither  you,  he,  nor  I  deserve  the  credit  for  it." 

/ 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following  sentences,  and  tell  which 
statement  or  exception  applies  to  each  :  [  Two  are  correct.  ] 

I.  That  boy  and  his  sister  goes  to  our  school.  2.  The  man  and  his  son 
was  both  blind.  3.  Every  man,  every  woman,  and  every  child  were  numbered. 
4.  All  work  and  no  play  make  Jack  a  dull  boy.  5.  Principle  and  not  policy  are 
to  be  thought  of  first.  6.  The  horse  together  with  the  buggy  and  a  set  of  har- 
ness is  to  be  sold  by  auction  tomorrow.  7.  "  Sunshine  and  Shadow  "  are  the 
title  of  a  book.  8.  The  boy's  mother  but  not  his  father  deserve  great  credit. 

9.  The  ambition  and  the  avarice  of  man  is  the  sources  of  his   unhappiness. 

10.  Her  beauty  and  not  her  talents  attract  attention,     u.  Out  of  the  same  mouth 
proceeds  blessing  and  cursing.     12.  Gold  or  U.  S.  Treasury  notes  is  a  legal  ten- 
der for  the  payment  of  debts.     13.  Neither  the  house  nor  the  lot  are  worth 
much.     14.  Good  order  in  our  affairs,  and  not  mean  savings,  produce  great  prof- 
its.     15.  Whether  one  person  or  more  were  concerned  in  it,  we  cannot  tell. 
16.  Riches,  honor,  and  pleasure  steals  away  the  heart  from  religion.     17.  Neither 
the  captain  nor  the  sailors  was  acquainted  with  the  coast.     18.  One  or  both  of 
the  witnesses  was  present.     19.  Are  one  or  both  of  the  banks  closed  ? 

251.  Fact  3.     When   who,  which,  or  that,   is  the  subject  of 
a  clause,  the  verb  in  the  clause  agrees  with  the  antecedent. 

[For  examples,  see  paragraph  Ii8a. ] 
Correct  the  following : 

i.  These  are  the  times  that  tries  men's  souls.  2.  It  was  the  poor  people  who 
was  oppressed.  3.  The  statistics  which  has  been  published  are  not  complete. 
4.  The  questions  that  is  to  be  discussed  are  of  interest  to  all. 

252.  Fact  4:.     When  who,  which,  or  what,  is  used  in  asking 
a  question,  the  number  of  a  verb  depends  upon  whether  the  ques- 
tion is  asked  about  one  thing  or  more  than  one.     ( 154. ) 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  115 

Correct  the  following : 

i.  Who  is  those  boys?  2.  What  was  the  questions?  3.  Which  was  those? 
4.  Which  is  the  ones  you  want  ?  5.  Who  was  his  assistants  ? 

253.  Fact  5.     When  the  indefinite  *  there '  is  the  subject,  the 
verb  conforms  to  the  number  of  the  noun  or  pronoun  following  it. 

Examples  :  There  is  one  thing  to  be  done.  There  are  several  points  that 
should  be  settled.  ( 207  b. ) 

Correct  the  following : 

i.  There  is  a  few  questions  I  would  like  to  ask.  2.  There  was  several  ac- 
cidents happened.  3.  There  is  few  so  careful  as  him.  4.  There  has  been  others 
who  was  just  as  deserving  as  her.  5.  There  was  some  doubts  about  it. 

254.  Fact  6.     In  passive  verb-phrases  and  phrases  denoting 
completed  time,  the  perfect  participle  of  the  verb  is  used.    ( i66d.) 

Examples :  I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfection.  She  has  gone  to  walk. 
The  letter  has  been  written.  He  had  lain  there  three  days.  They  were  given 
nothing  in  return.  It  was  begun  long  ago.  He  was  beaten. 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :     [Two  are  correct.] 

i.  The  apples  were  froze  on  the  trees.  2.  He  has  been  saw  there  by  several. 
3.  The  ship  was  sank  by  the  enemy.  4.  The  meal  was  ate  in  silence.  5.  Our 
kindness  was  forgot.  6.  The  letter  was  wrote  hastily.  7.  I  am  nearly  froze. 
8.  The  work  was  did  for  I  done  it  myself.  9.  The  price  of  wheat  has  fallen. 
10.  He  has  wore  that  hat  a  year.  n.  The  check  should  have  been  wrote  with  ink. 
12.  You  should  have  came.  13.  I  would  have  came  if  I  could.  14.  The  man  had 
became  discouraged.  15.  I  have  came  a  long  distance.  16.  The  house  is  began 
but  not  finished.  17.  My  knife  was  stole.  18.  Have  you  saw  him  lately? 
19.  The  horses  have  ran  away.  20.  He  should  have  took  a  receipt.  21.  They  will 
have  saw  their  best  days.  22.  We  shall  have  ran  the  race  and  finished  the 
course.  23.  They  were  driven  out  of  their  own  homes. 

255.  Fact  7.     In  stating  general  truths,  and  in  speaking  of 
present  facts,  the  present-time  form  of  the  verb  is  used. 

Examples :  Plato  taught  that  the  soul  is  immortal.  Columbus  was  scoffed 
at  for  believing  that  the  earth  is  round. 

Correct  the  following : 

i.  Christ  taught  that  love  was  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  2.  The  teacher  told 
us  that  every  star  was  a  sun.  3.  Who  was  that  man  we  just  passed  ?  4.  Am  I 
glad  ?  I  should  say  I  was.  5.  He  proved  that  the  earth  was  round. 


116  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

256.  Fact  8.     In  subordinate  clauses  of  condition  (188)  intro- 
duced by  if,  though,  or  unless,  the  past  were  is  used  in  the  pres- 
ent time,  with  either  singular  or  plural  subjects.       Were  is  also 
used  to  denote  present  time  in  an  objective  clause  after  a  wish, 
and  after  as  if,  or  as  though,  connecting  an  adverbial  clause  to  a 
present-time  verb.     ( 188  a,  b. ) 

"  If  I  were  a  voice,  a  persuasive  voice,  I  would  travel  this  wide  world  o'er." 
"  Would  she  were  mine,  and  I  today,  like  her  a  harvester  of  hay." 
[  For  further  examples,  see  188.  ] 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :     [One  is  correct.] 

I.  If  I  was  him  I  should  go.  2.  If  he  was  here  he  would  decline  the  nom- 
ination. 3.  If  I  was  him  I  should  resign.  4.  If  we  was  to  tell  you,  you  would 
not  believe  it.  5.  Would  that  she  was  here.  6.  I  wish  you  was  going  with  us. 
7.  Don't  you  wish  it  were  yours  ?  8.  Was  he  ever  so  great  his  conduct  would 
debase  him.  9.  If  it  was  otherwise  we  might  consider  your  proposal.  10.  Un- 
less I  was  sure  of  it  I  should  not  stay.  u.  They  act  as  if  they  was  glad  of  it. 

257.  Fact    9.     Shall  with  the  first  person,  and  will  with  the 
second  and  third  persons,  denote  simply  future  time,  so  far  as  the 
speaker  is  concerned.      Will  with  the  first  person,  and  shall  with 
the  second  and  third  persons,  indicate  a  promise  or  determination 
on  the  part  of  the  speaker. 

Note, — Should  and  would  follow  the  rule  for  shall  and  will. 

[For  examples,  see  paragraph  173  b;  also  366,  and  the  last  exercise  on  p.  97.] 

Correct  the  following : 

I.  I  promise  you  it  will  be  as  you  wish  it.  2.  He  will  do  the  work  for  I  shall 
compel  him  to  do  it.  3.  I  will  drown  for  nobody  shall  help  me.  4.  I  hope  I 
will  see  you  soon.  5.  You  will  hear  from  me  tomorrow.  6.  He  will  obey  my 
rules  or  I  shall  punish  him.  7.  When  will  we  three  meet  again  ?  8.  I  think  I 
will  not  go.  9.  Shall  you  promise  me  to  see  to  it  ?  10.  Will  we  go  to  the  con- 
cert tonight  ? 

MISCELLANEOUS  ERRORS. 

258.  i.     Using  a  perfect  participle  to  express  past  time. 
Correct  the  following : 

I.  We  are  quite  sure  he  done  it.     2.  I  seen  him  there  yesterday.     3.  They  come 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  117 

by  boat  last  night.  4.  The  boy  run  as  fast  as  he  could.  5.  I  eat  my  breakfast  in 
a  hurry.  6.  He  rung  the  bell  violently  and  we  all  sprung  to  our  feet.  7.  She 
sung  two  pieces.  8.  The  sun  sunk  from  sight. 

2.  Using  a  present  perfect  verb-phrase  to  denote  a  time  previ- 
ous to  that  indicated  by  a  subordinate  clause  following  it. 

Example  :  I  have  graduated  from  the  high  school,  since  when  I  have  been 
attending  the  business  college.  Omit  the  first  have. 

3.  Using  the  "  auxiliary"  part  of  a  verb-phrase  by  itself  after 
as  or  than,  when  the  rest  of  the  phrase  has  not  been  given  in  the 
preceding  clause. 

Note. — This  is  one  of  the  most  common  errors  in  every-day  talk  and  writing. 

Examples :  I  will  give  as  much  as  he  has.  You  had  done  more  for  me  than 
they  would.  In  these  examples,  the  rest  of  the  verb-phrase  after  has  and  would 
cannot  be  supplied  from  the  same  sentence;  for  "as  he  has  give"  and  "than 
they  would  done  "  do  not  make  sense.  Say  '  as  much  as  he  has  given  ; '  '  more 
than  they  would  do?  or  '  would  have  done.' 

Remark. — When  the  correct  form  of  the  principal  verb  can  be  supplied,  front 
the  same  sentence,  it  may  be  omitted ;  as,  "  You  have  not  tried  as  hard  as  he 
has,"  or  simply,  "  as  hard  as  he."  ( 351. ) 

4.  Using  the  infinitive  "  sign  "  without  its  verb ;  as — 

"  I  have  never  gone  there  and  do  not  intend  to."  "  He  has  not  paid  it  nor 
does  he  expect  to."  [  See  Error  3  above.  However,  the  Remark  under  Error  3 
does  not  apply  to  the  use  of  the  infinitive  "  sign  "  by  itself.  ]  Say  '  and  do  not 
intend  to  go  ; '  '  nor  does  he  expect  to  do  so,'  or  '  to  pay  it.' 

5.  Using  the  present  perfect   form  of  an  infinitive  after  the 
past  form  of  a  verb,  or  after  a  present  perfect  verb-phrase  ;  as- — 

He  intended  to  have  gone.  They  had  hoped  to  have  been  invited.  Say  '  He 
intended  to  go.'  '  They  had  hoped  to  be  invited.' 

6.  Using  an  indefinite  expression  as  to  time  before  a  definite 
time  mentioned  in  the  same  sentence  ;  as — 

I  used  to  do  that  last  fall.  We  used  to  go  there  last  year.  Say  '  I  did  that 
last  fall.'  '  We  went  there  last  year.' 

7.  Using  the  active  form  of  a  verb  with  a  passive  meaning ;  as — 

One  tires  of  hearing  it.  The  reader  soon  wearies  of  such  stuff.  Say  '  be- 
comes tired,'  '  grows,  or  becomes  weary  ' —  etc. 


118  PLAIN  ENGLISH. 

8.  Using  the  wrong  subject  for  a  passive  verb-phrase  ;  as — 

All  bills  are  requested  to  be  paid  at  once.  By  which  is  meant  '  All  persons 
(or  customers)  are  requested  to  pay  their  bills  at  once.' 

9.  Using  the  archaic  and  the  common  forms  of  verbs  in  the 
same  sentence.     (169.) 

Example  :  If  thou  will  be  diligent  thou  shall  succeed.  Use  you  instead  of 
thou,  or  change  will  and  shall  to  the  archaic  forms — wilt  and  shalt.  ( 377. ) 

10.  Aint;  etc. — The  use  of  aint  for '  is  not,'  or  '  am  not ; '  haint  for  '  has  not,' 
or  'have  not; '  taint  for  '  it  is  not.'     Such  expressions  are  very  slovenly. 

11.  As  follows,  As  follow.— When  that  which  may  be  inserted  after  as, 
the  verb  should  be  follows;  but  when  the  construction  requires  those  which,  the 
verb  should  be  follow.    Examples:    "His  statement  was  as  [ that  which ]  fol- 
lows"   "  His  words  were  as  [  those  which  ]  follow." 

When  the  predicate  before  as  is  complete,  or  when  the  things  referred  to  are 
mixed  with  other  matter,  as  follows  should  be  used,  the  meaning  in  such  cases 
being  '  as  [  shown  by  that  which  ]  follows?  For  examples,  see  paragraphs  55, 
69,70,85,  168,258! \  and  303!. 

12.  Don't  for  doesn't. — The    use    of  don't  for  doesn't  is  a  very   common 
error.    The  former  is  a  contraction  of  '  do  not,'  the  latter  of  'does  not.'    When 
you  are  in  doubt  as  to  which  you  should  use,  think  or  speak  the  two  words  in 
full  to  see  if  the  verb  agrees  with  the  subject    For  example :     "  He  don't 
understand  it."    This  sentence  in  full  would  read  "  He  do  not  understand  it," 
which  is  incorrect,  just  as  it  would  be  incorrect  to  say  "We  doesn't  understand 
it,"  both  being  contrary  to  Fact  i  (249).     The  former  should  be  '  He  doesn't 
understand  it ; '  the  latter,  '  We  don't  understand  it.'    /  is  the  only  singular 
subject  with  which  don't  should  be  used. 

13.  Daresn't. — This  contraction  is  often  incorrectly  used  with  a  plural  sub- 
ject; as,  "You  daresn't  do  it,"  which  is  equivalent  to  "  You  dares  not  do  it." 
[  See  remarks  under  Error  3.  ]     Daren't  and  daresn't  are  not,  however,  good 
contractions,  and  should  not  be  used. 

14.  Had  rather,  Had  better. — These  very  common  expressions  are  not 
logically  correct.    They  should  be  would  rather,  and  might  better  ;  as — 

I  would  rather  stay  at  home  than  to  go,  not  I  had  rather  stay  at  home — etc. 
You  might  better  leave  your  work  for  a  while,  not  You  had  better  leave — etc. 

Remark. — In  these  two  sentences,  rather  and  better  axe  merely  adverbs,  hence 
they  are  not  a  part  of  the  verb-phrases.  '  Had  stay,'  and  '  had  leave  '  are  incor- 
rect combinations  of  the  past  had  with  the  present  stay  and  leave.  [  See  Error 
15,  next  page ;  also  paragraph  380.  ] 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  119 

15.  Had  have. — Had  may  follow  have ;  as —  "  I  have  had  the  letter  copied," 
"We  have  had  several  liberal  offers,"  etc.,  but  have  should  never  be  used  after  had 
in  a  verb-phrase,  since  the  past  form  of  a  verb  should  never  precede  the  present 
or  present  perfect  form.     Hence,  such  expressions  as   "  If  I  had  have  known 
that,"  "  Had  you  have  kept  your  promise,"  are  incorrect.     Omit  have. 

16.  Had  ought. — For  the  reason  given  above,  had  is  not  only  superfluous, 
but  incorrect  in  sense  in  such  sentences  as —  "  He  had  ought  to  go,"  "  You  had 
ought  to  have  seen  it."     Say  '  He  ought  to  go,'  '  You  ought  to  have' —  etc. 

17.  It's. — The  use  of  ifs  for  *tis.     [  See  Brror  5,  paragraph  239.] 

18.  Lie  and  Lay. — Much  of  the  confusion  and  misuse  of  these  troublesome 
words  may  be  avoided  by  remembering  that  lie  means  '  rest,*  while  lay  means 
transitive  action,  that  is,  action  affecting  an  object.     Their  principal  parts  are 

Lie,  lay,  lain  ;  active,  lying.     Lay,  laid,  laid;  active,  laying. 
Examples  of  correct  usage : 

Lie. — I  lie  down  a  while  each  day.  The  book  lies  on  the  table.  They  are 
lying  on  the  grass.  He  lay  abed  yesterday  until  nine  o'clock.  It  had  lain  there 
all  day.  The  farm  has  lain  idle  a  long  time. 

Lay. — I  will  lay  it  away  for  you.  Lay  the  book  on  the  table.  She  laid  her 
gloves  on  the  counter.  We  have  laid  their  plans  well.  We  were  laying  the 
walk  yesterday.  (381. ) 

Correct  the  following  :  i.  It  laid  there  all  day.  2.  Lie  the  ruler  on  the  desk. 
3.  You  might  better  lay  down  and  rest  awhile.  4.  They  have  lain  the  boards 
cross-wise.  5.  I  would  rather  lie  my  money  by  for  a  "  rainy  day."  6.  I  had 
been  laying  on  the  grass.  7.  The  hen  has  lain  four, eggs.  8.  Go  and  lay  down 
on  the  lounge.  9.  They  were  laying  in  ambush.  10.  Lie  the  books  on  the  table 
and  let  them  lay  there. 

19.  Mistaken. — "You  are  mistaken'''     Say  '  You  mistake,'  or  *  in  error,'  or 
1  incorrect,'  if  such  is  your  meaning.     Mistaken  has  a  different  meaning. 

20.  Of   for   have. — Of  is  sometimes  carelessly  used  in  the  place   of  have 
after   might,   could,    would,   should,  or  ought   to;    as,    "You   might   of  gone 
with  us."     "You  ought  to  of  told  us." 

21.  Raise  for  rise. — These  words  are  both  verbs,  but  raise  is  transitive  and 
must  have  an  object.     Thus,  the  following  sentences  are  correct : 

Did  you  raise  the  money  ?  The  farmer  raises  corn.  They  will  raise  the  barn. 
They  raised  the  flag.  Bach  one  in  favor  of  this  may  raise  his  right  hand. 

The  following  are  incorrect : 

Do  you  think  the  river  will  raise  ?    When  will  the  moon  raise  ?    The  bread 


120  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

did  not  raise.    The  balloon  began  to  raise.     The  sun  raises  at  five  o'clock.    The 
river  is  raising.     The  price  of  wheat  did  not  raise  after  all. 

(a)  Raise  (always  a  verb)  is  incorrectly  used  as  a  noun,  thus  :  "  There  was 
a  slight  raise  in  the  land."  "  There  was  a  general  raise  in  prices."  The  noun 
in  these  and  similar  sentences  should  be  rise. 

22.  Says  for  said. — In  such  expressions  as  "  Says  I,  what  will  you  do  ?  " 
"Says  he,  that's  what  I  think,"  the  past  form  of  the  verb  (said]  should  be  used. 

23.  See  for  saw. — "  I  see  him  there  yesterday."     Say  '  I  saw  him  ' — etc. 

24.  Sit  and  Set. — These  two  words  are  often  misused,  but  most   of  the 
errors  may  be  avoided  by  remembering  that  sit  means  to  rest,  to  be  in  a  position 
of  rest,  or  to  be  in  session,  as  of  a  court ;  while  set  means  action,  '  to  put  a 
thing  in  place,'  *  to  appoint ; '  as  'to  set  a  day '  for  doing  something.      The 
principal  parts  of  the  two  words  are  as  follow : 

Sit,  'sat,  sat ;  active,  sitting.    Set,  set,  set;  active,  setting. 
Examples  of  correct  usage : 

Sit. — Will  you  sit  and  talk  awhile  ?  Please  sit  in  the  easy  chair.  We  sat  and 
talked  for  an  hour.  They  had  been  sitting  but  a  short  time.  The  hen  is  sitting. 
The  court  sits  the  first  Tuesday  in  October.  [See  382.] 

Set. — You  have  set  the  lamp  in  the  wrong  place.  I  had  set  a  time  for  doing 
the  work.  They  are  setting  out  trees.  The  sun  sets  at  six  o'clock.  ( 382  a. ) 

Correct  the  following : 

i.  He  set  as  still  as  a  mouse.  2.  We  have  set  until  we  are  tired.  3.  He  sits 
a  bad  example.  4.  We  sat  the  hen  and  she  is  setting.  5.  Please  set  down  and 
stay  a  while.  6.  How  long  have  you  been  setting  here  ?  7.  The  sun  is  sitting. 
8.  When  will  the  court  set  again.  9.  The  blind  man  was  setting  by  the  wayside. 
10.  They  are  sitting  fence  posts. 

25.  Thinks  I,  or  thinks's  I,  for  I  thought ;  as,  "  Thinks  I,  I'll  watch  and 
see."    "  Thinks's  I  to  myself,  I'll  see  about  that"    Say  <  I  thought  '—etc. 

MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES  TO  BE  CORRECTED. 
[  Three  are  correct.  ] 

259.  i.  A  bushel  of  apples  sell  for  a  dollar.  2.  They  expected  to  have 
arrived  by  boat.  3.  The  tide  is  raising.  4.  Haint  you  going  with  us  ?  5.  It  had 
been  lain  carefully.  6.  We  shall  have  ran  the  race.  7.  No,  I  aint.  8.  To  set  up 
late  is  bad  for  one's  health.  9.  The  price  of  wheat  did  not  raise  after  all. 
10.  We  had  hoped  to  have  heard  from  him  again,  n.  It  has  laid  there  for  some 
time.  12.  Taint  very  far.  13.  The  fireworks  was  what  they  was  depending  on 
to  draw  the  crowd.  14.  I  sat  my  watch  by  correct  time  yesterday.  15.  I  hoped 
to  have  seen  you  before  you  left  the  city.  16.  Set  the  pail  on  the  bench  and 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  Ml 

let  it  set.  17.  He  aint  got  any  money.  18.  He  would  have  been  pleased  to 
have  met  you.  19.  He  is  as  cross  as  a  sitting  hen.  20.  She  desired  to  have 
come.  21.  You  have  drove  too  fast.  22.  Have  you  ever  spoke  to  him?  23.  Will 
I  bring  you  a  pen  and  some  paper?  24.  The  meaning  of  your  words  are  doubt- 
ful. 25.  One  half  the  mol>  was  driven  back.  26.  Do  set  down  and  rest  yourself. 
27.  Don't  set  on  the  damp  grass.  28.  The  governor  in  company  with  his  staff 
was  here.  29.  He  and  Johnny  goes  swimming  every  day.  30.  The  committee 
were  unanimous  in  its  action.  31.  Where  was  you  when  the  bell  rung? 
32.  There's  ten  of  us  going.  33.  Yes,  says  I,  we'll  go  together.  34.  Thinks  I  to 
myself,  I'll  do  it.  35.  He  has  broke  my  pencil.  36.  The  ship  lays  in  the  har- 
bor. 37.  He  has  sprained  his  ankle,  since  which  time  he  has  not  been  able 
to  work.  38.  She  has  taken  a  complete  course  in  music,  since  when  she  has 
been  engaged  in  teaching.  39.  He  ought  to  have  known  better. 

FACTS   ABOUT  PREPOSITIONS. 

260.  Fact  1.  Regarding  this  part-of-speech,  the  important 
fact  to  be  observed  is  that  appropriate  prepositions  should  follow 
certain  words,  the  preposition  in  any  case  depending  upon  the 
meaning  to  be  expressed.  [For  list  of  appropriate  prepositions,  see  324.] 

Correct  the  errors  in  the  following :      [Five  are  correct.  ] 

i.  He  was  accused  for  stealing  the  goods,  but  the  jury  acquitted  him  from  it. 
2.  The  two  boys  were  inbeparable  to  each  other.  3.  The  old  man  leaned  against 
his  staff  and  told  them  his  story.  4.  He  listened  at  the  music  of  the  waves. 
5.  John's  mother  was  frightened  at  the  news  of  his  narrow  escape.  6.  The 
peasants  are  dying  with  cholera.  7.  Garfield  graduated  from  Hiram  Col- 
lege. 8.  The  soldier  was  killed  by  a  stray  bullet.  9.  The  dying  child  opened 
her  eyes  and  smiled  at  me.  10.  The  opposition  against  the  Chinese  in  this 
country  seems  to  grow.  u.  In  accordance  to  an  old  custom  the  president  an- 
nually issues  a  proclamation  for  a  national  thanksgiving  day.  12.  Napoleon  was 
banished  from  France  and  kept  a  prisoner  in  the  island  of  St.  Helena.  13.  Three 
boys  agreed  with  themselves  to  buy  a  melon.  14.  The  grocer  was  impatient  with 
the  clerk  for  his  awkwardness.  15.  What's  the  matter  of  him?  16.  James  reads 
in  the  Bible  for  his  mother.  17.  The  resources  of  the  United  States  are  ade- 
quate for  the  support  of  many  millions  more  people.  18.  Were  you  ever  ad- 
monished against  doing  wrong  or  reminded  of  your  duty  in  this  matter  ? 
19.  Life  in  the  country  is  quite  different  than  it  is  in  the  city.  20.  Persons  are 
often  frightened  by  ghosts.  21.  They  are  generally  good  for  flattering  who 
are  good  at  nothing  else.  22.  The  poor  man  was  healed  from  his  wound. 
23.  He  practiced  medicine  in  the  south.  24.  The  immigrants  landed  in  New 
York.  25.  The  letter  was  dated  from  Dublin. 


122  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

261.  Pact  2.    When  a  participle  is  used  as  a   noun   and  is 
preceded  by  an  article,  it  should  be  followed  by  a  preposition. 

Examples  :    By  the  observing  of  the  rules  of  health  one  may  avoid  sickness. 
A  liking  for  liquor  was  one  of  his  inheritances. 

Remark.— The  opposite  of  the  above  is  true,  that  is,  if  the  article  is  omitted  before  the  parti- 
cipial noun,  the  preposition  should  be  omitted  after  it. 

Example :    Observing  the  rules  of  health  will  enable  us  to  avoid  sickness. 

Correct  the  following : 

1.  The  reading  good  books  improves  the  mind.     2.  Learning  shorthand  re- 
quires patience.     3.  Appointing  of  postmasters  is  a  big  task  for  the  President. 
4.  The  educating  children  is  a  responsible  undertaking. 

MISCELLANEOUS  ERRORS. 

262.  i.    Repeating  a  preposition  after  a  verb,  the  same  prep- 
osition having  been  used  to  introduce  a  preceding  phrase. 

Example  :    At  which  hotel  did  you  stay  at?    Omit  the  last  "  at." 

2.  Using  the  preposition  "of"  and  a  transitive  verb  before 
the  same  object. 

Example  :     "  He  did  not  remember  of  seeing  you."     Omit  of. 

3.  At,  By. — Goods  are  sold  by  auction,  not  at  auction.     We  tnay  buy  things 
at  an  auction,  but  the  selling  is  by  auction,  since  "  auction  "  signifies  the  man- 
ner of  selling;  as,  "How  did  they  dispose  of  their  stock?    Answer:    "  By  auc- 
tion." 

4.  At  fault.—"  He  is  at  fault  in  the  matter."     Say '  in  fault '  or  '  in  error.'    At 
fault  is  a  hunting  phrase  meaning  "  off  the  scent."    In  fault  should  be  used 
when  blame  is  expressed ;  in  error ^  when  the  person  is  incorrect. 

5.  Below,  Under. — These   words   have   reference  to  place.     They  should 
not  be  used  in  the  sense  of  less  or  fewer  when  reference  is  made  to  an  amount 
or  number;   as,  "The  total  is  below  one  hundred  dollars."     "There  were  un- 
der fifty  present."     Say  '  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,'  '  fjwcr  than  fifty  '—  etc. 

6.  Differ  with,  Differ  from. — Both  these  expressions  are  correct.    Differ 
front  should  be  used  when  a  mere  courteous  difference  of  opinion  is  meant. 
Differ  with  is  correct  when  there  is  a  positive  disagreement,  especially  when  the 
difference  leads  to  a  quarrel  or  hot  dispute. 

7.  In  for  into. — When  entrance  is  denoted,  into  should  be  used  instead  of  in. 

Examples :    He  came  into  ( not  in )  the  room.    We  got  into  ( not  in )  the 
carriage. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  123 

Change  in  to  into  in  the  following  sentences  and  notice  the  change  in  mean- 
ing: 

He  jumped  in  the  river.  He  walked  in  the  water.  The  guide  led  the  way  in 
the  cave.  They  were  driven  in  the  pasture.  The  captain  urged  his  horse  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight.  The  people  ran  in  the  street.  The  team  ran  in  the  field. 

8.  Like  for  as. — Both  these  words    express  similarity,  but   like    (prep.) 
compares  things,  expressing  similarity  of  quality  or  appearance;  while  as  (conj.) 
compares  actions. 

Examples  :  He  holds  the  pen  as  you  do  but  his  writing  does  not  look  like 
yours.  She  does  not  look  like  you  but  she  talks  just  as  you  do.  I  feel  as  if  I 
ought  to  go.  Do  not  say,  '  I  feel  like  I  ought  to  go.' 

9.  On,  Upon. — In  many  connections  these  words  are  interchangeable ;  in 
others,  however,  there  is  a  positive  difference  between  their  meanings.     The 
distinction  is  as  follows :     On  means  merely  over,  or  resting  on  a  thing ;  upon 
implies  or  conveys  the  idea  of  motion. 

Example :    "The  boy  climbed  upon  the  wagon."    "  He  rode  on  the  wagon." 

In  the  following  sentences,  change  on  to  upon,  or  upon  to  <?«,  and  note  the 
change  in  meaning : 

The  dog  ran  upon  the  bridge.  The  man  fell  on  the  sidewalk.  The  guns 
were  loaded  upon  the  wagon.  The  children  ran  on  the  ice. 

10.  Onto  for  on  or  upon  is  a  gross  error ;  as,  for  example,  "  The  cat  jumped 
onto  the  table."    This  is  an  absurd  statement,   for  once   on  the  table  the  cat 
could  not  jump  to  it.    The  cat  jumps  upon  the  table,  not  on  the  table.    Jumping 
on  the  table  is  like  walking  on  the  floor,  rolling  on  the  ground,  running  on  the 
ice,  and  so  forth. 

ir.  Over,  Above. — Like  below  and  under  (Error  5,  above),  these  words 
have  reference  to  place.  They  are  often  incorrectly  used  for  more  than  ;  as— 
"  He  lives  above  a  mile  from  here."  Say  '  more  than  ' — etc. 

12.  Per. — Per  is  a  Latin  preposition  and  should  not  be  used  before  English 
nouns  denoting  time,  number,  or  amount.     Thus,  we  say,  'per  diem*  (day), 
*  per  annum'  (year),  '  per  capita'  (head)  ;  but  we  should  not  say  'per  day,' 
'  per  year,'  '  per  head,'   '  per  yard,'  '  per  foot,'  and  so  forth.     Instead,  say  '  so 
much  a  head,'  '  a  yard,'  '  a  year,'  and  so  forth.     [  See  349.] 

13.  Without  for  unless. —  Without'^  a  preposition  and  should  never  be  used  as 
a  conjunction  to  introduce  a  clause  ;  as,  "  No  one  need  apply  without  he  comes 
recommended."     "  They  would  not  come  without  we  made  them  a  definite  offer.*' 
Say  '  unless  he  comes,'  '  unless  we  made  ' — etc.    Except  is  also  sometimes  mis- 
used for  unless  in  such  sentences. 


124  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES  TO  BE  CORRECTED. 
[  Two  are  correct.  ] 

263.  i.  This  one  is  quite  different  to  that.     2.  His  majority  is  under  five 
hundred.     3.  He  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket.     4.  Do  you  approve  of  such  con* 
duct  ?    5.  By  what  route  will  you  go  by  ?    6.  The  house  stood  over  fifty  feet 
from  the  street.     7.  Will  you  accept  of  this  token  of  respect?    8.  In  compliance 
to  your  request,  we  mail  you  our  price-list.     9.  I  threw  it  into  the  fire.     10.  The 
number  present  was  below  fifty,     n.  I  do  not  remember  of  saying  it,  but  I  will 
try  to  recollect  of  it.     12.  At  what  hotel  did  you  stop  at?     13.  Working  in  an 
office  is  different  than  working  on  a  farm.     14.  He  came  in  the  city.     15.  She  is 
over  eighty  years  old.     16.  She  was  admitted  in  the  class.     17.  He  jumped  onto 
the  platform  just  as  the  train  started.     18.  With  which  pen  did  you  write  with  ? 
19.  He  owns  above  two  hundred  acres  of  land.     20.  We  rushed  in  the  depot. 
21.  To  what  resort  will  you  go  to  this  summer?     22.  The  child  fell  in  the  cistern. 
23.  Of  whom  does  he  remind  you  of?     24.  We  got  into  the  car. 

CONJUNCTIONS. 

264.  Concerning  this  part-of-speecli,  the  only  fact  of  a  general 
nature  is  that  certain  co-ordinate  conjunctions  correspond  with 
other  words  ( adjectives  and  adverbs )  after  which  they  are  prop- 
erlyused.   These  words  are  called  "correlatives."  [  See  paragraph  1 14.  ] 
The  following  correlatives  are  the  only  ones  that  require  special 
attention : 

( a )  As  should  follow  as  ( adv. )  when  equality  is  expressed,  or  in  asking  a 
question  as  to  whether  there  is  equality. 

Examples :     He  can  write  as  well  as  anyone  I  know.     Is  he  as  well  as  usual  ? 

(b)  As  follows  so  (adv.)  when  inequality  is  asserted,  or  when  an  infinitive 
follows  as  ;  thus — 

He  is  not  so  well  as  usual.     Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  answer  my  question  ? 

( c)  Nor  is  the  proper  correlative  of  neither  (adj.  or  adv.),  and  also  of  the 
negatives  not  and  never  when  they  apply  to  what  follows  as  well  as  to  what  pre- 
cedes the  correlative. 

Examples :  He  could  neither  read  nor  write.  He  will  not  work  nor  permit 
others  to  do  so.  The  negative  not  is  sometimes  implied  in  nothing  ('  no  thing' 
or  '  not  any  thing  '),  which  is  then  followed  by  nor;  as,  "  It  was  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  an  attempt  to  coerce." 

(d)  Or  is  the  correlative  of  either  (adj.  or  adv.)     [See  paragraph  114.] 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  125 

(<?)     Than  is  the  proper  conjunction  after  else,  other,  otherwise,  or 

any  comparative  word  except  preferable. 

Examples :    It  was  nothing  else  than  a  boycott.    This  is  none  other  than  the 
house  of  God.     It  could  hardly  be  otherwise  than  pleasant. 

Correct  the  following  I      [Two  are  correct.] 

1.  Neither  John  or  his  brother  could  go.    2.  He  will  not  study  or  obey.    3.  One 
should  not  eat  or  drink  while  talking.    4.  We  have  neither  time  or  money  to 
spare.     5.  She  will  never  sing  or  play  again.     6.  He  is  not  as  rich  as  he  makes 
believe.     7.  I  am  as  tall  as  he  but  not  as  heavy.     8.  Who  is  so  competent  as  he  1 
9.  There  are  few  so  well  educated  as  he  is.     10.  This  house  is  more  expensive 
but  not  as  attractive  as  the  other  one.     n.  We  have  no  other  hope  but  this. 
12.  I  could  not  do  otherwise  than  speak  well  of  him.     13.  I  think  this  is  more 
preferable  than  that. 

MISCELLANEOUS   ERRORS. 

265.  i.     Using  and  in  the  place  of  to  before  an  infinitive;   as,  "Please 
come  and  see  us  soon."    "  I  will  try  and  go."     Say  '  Please  come  to  see  us  soon.' 
'  I  will  try  to  go.' 

2.  Using  as  or  if  for  that  or  whether  to  introduce  objective  clauses;  as, 
"  Do  you  know  if  he  will  come?  "     Say  *  whether  he  will  come.'     "  I  do  not  see 
as  he  has  changed  much."     Say  '  that  he  has  changed  much.' 

3.  Using  but  that,  but  what,  or  lest  for    that,  after  verbs  expressing 
doubt,  fear,  or  denial ;  as,  "  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  it  is  true."     Omit  but.     "I 
never  doubted  but  what  he  was  innocent."     Use  that  instead  of  but  what.     "I 
fear  lest  they  will  not  come."    Say  '  that  they  will  not  come.' 

But  is  sometimes  incorrectly  used  for  if;  as,  "  I  should  not  wonder  but  that 
is  true."    Say  '  if  that  is  true.' 

4.  Directly. — This  adverb  should  not  be  used  as  a  conjunction  to  take'  the 
place  of  when  or  as  soon  as,  thus :  "  Directly  we  came  he  went."     "  Directly  we 
got  aboard,  the  boat   started."    Say  '  when,'  or  '  as  soon  as.'    This  awkward 
use  of  directly  is  a  Briticism.    Avoid  it. 

5.  How  or  how  as  for  that ;  as,  "  He  said  how  he  would  come  if  he  could." 
"  I  thought  as  how  you  might  be  willing  to  extend  the  time."     Say  'that  he 
would  come ; '  '  that  you  might  be  willing ' — etc. 

MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES  TO  BE  CORRECTED. 
[  Two  are  correct.  ] 

266.  i.  Do  you  know  if  they  still  sell  those  goods  ?     2.  He  would  like  to 
know  if  you  will  go  with  them.     3.  He  asked  me  if  I  would  call  and  see  you. 
4.  Do  you  know  if  it  will  cost  as  much  as  the  other  ?    5.  The  judge  asked  the 


126  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

prisoner  if  he  was  guilty  or  not  guilty.  6.  I  do  not  know  as  that  will  help  mat- 
ters any.  7.  We  cannot  see  as  that  alters  the  case.  8.  We  cannot  say  as  he  is 
any  worse  than  he  was.  9.  We  did  not  doubt  but  what  they  will  succeed. 
10.  We  fear  lest  she  will  not  get  well.  n.  We  do  not  deny  but  that  you  have 
grounds  for  suspicion.  12.  He  does  not  doubt  but  what  you  did  your  best. 
13.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  that  was  the  case.  14.  We  will  try  and  do  the 
work  for  you.  15.  Directly  I  got  home  I  wrote  to  him.  16.  He  will  not  go 
without  you  do.  16.  I  beg  leave  to  differ  from  you  on  that  point. 

GENERAL  EXERCISES  TO  BE  CORRECTED. 
[  Three  are  correct.  ] 

267.  i.  The  measure  failed  in  consequence  of  the  President  vetoing  it. 
2.  This  is  Campbell's,  the  poet's,  production.  3.  Mans  happiness  or  misery  are 
in  a  great  measure  put  in  his  own  hands.  4.  The  prince  as  well  as  the  people 
were  to  blame.  5.  The  fleet  were  seen  sailing  up  the  bay.  6.  The  multitude 
eagerly  pursues  pleasure  as  its  chief  good.  7.  Their  love,  their  hatred,  and 
their  envy  has  now  perished.  8.  The  committee  was  divided  in  its  sentiments. 
9.  That  noble  general  who  had  gained  so  many  victories,  he  died  at  last  in 
prison.  10.  They  supposed  it  was  me  ;  but  you  knew  that  it  was  him.  n.  Who 
did  they  send  on  that  mission  ?  12.  Learn  to  always  be  content  with  what  you 
have.  13.  It  done  no  harm,  for  I  had  wrote  my  letter  before  he  come.  14.  Be- 
tween you  and  I,  I  am  afraid  he  will  never  pay  it.  15.  We  cannot  find  none  in 
the  market.  16.  The  sun  had  already  arose  when  we  resumed  our  journey. 
17.  He  writes  as  the  best  authors  would  have  wrote  had  they  writ  on  the  same 
subject.  18.  It  is  I  which  begs  you  to  desist.  19.  He  behaved  bad  and  now  he 
feels  badly  about  it.  20.  I  saw  one  who  I  took  to  be  she.  [See  221  b.  ]  21.  He 
can  sing  better  than  me.  22.  Such  was  the  career  of  Burns,  he  who  delighted  a 
nation  with  his  songs.  23.  The  Chinese  wall  is  thirty  foot  high.  24.  I  think 
you  had  better  have  your  horse  shod.  25.  I  intended  to  have  called  last  week 
but  could  not.  26.  The  fields  look  freshly  and  gayly  since  the  rain.  27.  He  is 
a  better  painter  than  poet.  28.  The  side  A,  together  with  the  sides  B  and  Ct 
compose  the  triangle.  29.  Five  and  eight  makes  thirteen  ;  five  from  eight  leaves 
three.  30.  He  would  not  believe  that  honesty  was  the  best  policy.  31.  Such  a 
bad  temper  is  a  great  detriment  to  a  person.  32.  I  guarantee  to  sell  a  better 
hat  than  any  dealer  in  this  city  for  less  money.  33.  This  is  the  most  perfect 
piece  of  work  I  ever  seen.  34.  Tom  is  more  active  but  not  so  studious  as  his 
brother.  35.  I  doubt  if  that  statement  can  be  depended  upon.  36.  Every  one 
must  take  care  of  themselves.  37.  This  is  quite  different  than  that.  38.  I  differ 
with  you  in  that  matter.  39.  Your  choice  of  any  chair  in  this  window  for  $3.75. 
40.  I  found  him  better  than  I  expected  to.  41.  His  report  of  the  affair  was  quite 
different  to  that.  42.  Neither  despise  the  poor  or  envy  the  rich.  43.  I  had 
rather  die  of  the  sword  than  with  cholera.  44.  He  accused  them  for  betraying 
their  trust  45.  I  expected  my  father  and  brother  to  have  come. 


PLAIN  ENGLISH.  127 

SUPERFLUOUS  WORDS. 

268.      I.     At.— Superfluous  in  "  Where  is  he  at  f  "  "  Where  do  they  live  at  ?" 

2.  After. — Superfluous  before  having ;  as,  "After  having  seen  him,  we  re- 
turned."    "  After  having  heard  that,  he  was   unwilling  to  go."     Say  'Having 
seen,'  '  Having  heard,'  etc. 

3.  Any. — Superfluous  in  such  expressions  as,  "I  am  not  hurt  any."    "He 
is  not  any  afraid."     "  She  cannot  see  any." 

4.  At  all. — "  We  are  not  at  all  surprised  at  the  outcome."    "  I  will  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it  at  all"   In  these  sentences,  "  at  all "  is  superfluous,  though 
it  has  the  sanction  of  good  usage. 

5.  Anxiety  of  mind. — "Anxiety  of  mind  is  undermining  his  health."  Since 
anxiety  has  reference  to  a  state  of  the  mind,  the  words   "  of  mind  "  in  this  sen- 
tence are  superfluous.     For  the  same  reason,  these  words  are  superfluous  in 
"  equanimity  of  mind,"  since  equanimity  means  '  balance  of  mind.' 

6.  Both  alike. — "  They  are  both  alike  in  that  respect."    Omit  "both."    ( 383.) 

7.  Back. — Superfluous   in   such    expressions    as,    "They   retreated  back" 
"  They  returned  back" 

8.  Bouts,  or  Abouts. — "  Where  bouts  [  or  whereabouts  ]  do  you  now  live  ?  " 
Say  '  Where  do  you  live  ?  ' 

9.  Clear. — Superfluous  in  "  He  went  clear  to  New  York,"  "  I  read  the  book 
clear  through,"  and  similar  expressions. 

10.  Down. — Superfluous  in  "  It  dropped  down."    "  He  fell  down" 

11.  Equally  as  well  as. — The  correlatives,  as — as,  indicate  equality,  there- 
fore equally,  in  such   expressions  as,  "  This  is  equally  as  good  as  that,"  "  This 
will  do  equally  as  well  as  that,"  is  superfluous. 

12.  Pull. — This  word  is  superfluous  after  fill ;  as,  "  It  was  filled  full  of  things." 
"  They  filled  the  cistern  full  of  water."     Say  *  filled  with  things,'  etc. 

13.  For. — "  He  is  worth  more  than  you  thinker."    Drop  the  "  for." 

14.  From. — Superfluous  before  hence,  thence,  and  whence;  as,  "  From  whence 
does  it  come."     "  We  shall  go  from  hence  as  soon  as  possible."    We  would  con- 
sider it  absurd  to  ask,  "  To  whither  does  it  go  ?  "  yet  that  would  be  no  worse 
than,  "  From  whence  does  it  come  ?  " 

15.  Forward. — Superfluous  in  "  They  advanced  forward"  since  the  idea  of 
'*  forward  "  is  embodied  in  advance.     This  is  like  saying,  "  They  retreated  back." 

16.  Go  and  fetch, — The  first  two  words  are  superfluous.    [  See  271 16.] 


128  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

17.  Got.— Superfluous  after  have,  has,  and  had.     [  See  paragraph  273'.  ] 

18.  In. — Superfluous  in  the  expression  "  In  so  far  as,"  as  "  In  so  far  as  he  is 
responsible  he  will  make  it  right,"  "  In  so  far  as  we  are  concerned," — etc. 

19.  Of. — Superfluous  after  admit,  accept,  recollect,  a.n&remember  ;  as,  "  The 
case  was  too  plain  to  admit  of  doubt."     [See  2622.] 

20.  On. — Superfluous  in  "  continue  on"     Continue  includes  the  idea  of  on. 

21.  Pocket  handkerchief.— The  word  pocket  is  superfluous,  just  as  hand 
is  in  neck-handkerchief.    The  latter  should  be  neck-kerchief. 

22.  Bight.— Superfluous  in  "  Right  there  it  is,"  "  Please  attend  to  it  right 
now,"  and  similar  expressions. 

23.  Same. — Superfluous  in  "  He  is  the  same  man  I  saw  yesterday,"    "  That 
is  the  same  horse  I  used  to  own,"  and  similar  sentences. 

24.  Together,  after  talk,  converse,  correspond,  connect,  unite,  and  similar 
words,  together  is  superfluous;  as,  "We  talked  together  over  the  matter." 

25.  Whole.— Superfluous  after  throughout;  as,  "Throughout  the  whole 
world  there  is  great  interest  in  the  matter."  "  Throughout  his  whole  life  he  was 
consistent  in  that  respect." 

26.  Widow  woman. —  Widow  means  a  woman  who  has  lost  her  husband 
and  has  not  married  again.    This  meaning  of  the  word  has  remained  unchanged 
for  thousands  of  years  and  it  is  understood  by  people  in  general  as  referring 
to  a  woman.    Hence,  the  word  woman  after  it  is  superfluous.     (384.) 


POPULAR  ABSURDITIES. 

269.      I.    After  night. — We  hear  persons  talk  of  doing  work  "  after  night." 
After  night  means  sometime  the  next  day. 

2.  A.  M.,  in  the  morning. — A.  M.  is  an  abbreviation  of  ante  meridiem^ which 
means  'before  noon '  or  '  in  the  morning.'    Hence,  it  is  an  absurd  superfluity  to 
say,  "  The  train  departs  at  7  A.  M.  in  the  morning."    Say  'at  7  o'clock  in  the 
morning,' or  ' at  7  A.  M.'    P.M.  (post meridiem — 'afternoon')  and  evening  are 
also  incorrectly  used  together;  as,  "He  came  at  6  P.  M.  this  evening." 

3.  Bad    orthography. — "Her  orthography  is  very  bad."      Orthography 
means    '  correct   spelling  ;  '    therefore,    "  bad   orthography  "    is  bad  correct 
spelling  ! 

4.  Been. — "  Has  the  postman  been  yet  ?  "     Such  questions  are  absurd,  for 
the  reason  that  been  (the  perfect  participle  of  be}  means  '  existed.'    Of  course 
the  postman  has  been  ever  since  he  was  born.     What  is  meant  is  "  Has  the  post- 
man been  here?"    "  Had  the  painters  been  there?"  and  so  forth. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  129 

5.  Between  each. — "  Between   each  of  the  houses  was  a  row  of  shade- 
trees."     Each  means  one.    The  absurdity  is  easily  seen. 

6.  Collect  a  bill. — How  can  one  thing  be  collected?    The  money  or  the 
amount  due  on  a  bill  may  be  collected,  but  not  the  bill. 

7.  Considerable  of  a. — The  use  of  the  phrase   considerable  of  a  to  limit 
a  noun  is  absurd ;  as,  "  They  paid  considerable  of  a  sum  for  it."     "  We  had  con- 
siderable of  a  shower."     Say  "  a  considerable  sum,"  "  a  considerable  shower." 

8.  Dead  run. — "  He  started  on  a  dead  run."    "  They  came  around  the  corner 
on  a  dead  run."    How  does  a  dead  run  differ  from  a  live  run  ?    The  fact  is  that 
what  is  so  often  called  a  "  dead  run  "  is  far  from  being  dead. 

9.  Empties. — Our  geographies  have  long  been  telling  us  that  "  the  Missis- 
sippi  empties  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  "    that  "  the  Amazon  empties  into  the 
Atlantic,"  and  that  the  Niagara  empties  into  Lake  Ontario."    Nevertheless   the 
"father  of  waters"  has  proved   (to  the  sorrow  of  many)  in  recent  years  that  it 
isn't  empty ;  while  the  waters  of  the  mighty  Amazon  continue  \.&  flow  into  the 
ocean,  and  the  never-ceasing  torrents  of  far-famed  Niagara  are  pouring  into  the 
"Lake  of  the  Thousand  Isles." 

10.  Every  once  in  a  little  while. — This  is  an  absurd  and  meaningless 
phrase,  made  so  by  the  misplacing  of  the  word  every.    It  should  be  "  Once  in 
every  little  while,"  though  the  latter  is  not  free  from  criticism.     Better  simply, 
"  Once  in  a  little  while." 

11.  Good  music  in  attendance. — A  common  but  absurd  statement.    What 
is  meant  is  that '  good  music  will  be  furnished,'  or  '  provided.' 

12.  Head  over  heels. — "He  is  always  head  over  heels  in  work."      The 
proper  position  for  a  person  at  work  is  with  his  head  over  his  heels. 

13.  "  How  do  you  do  ?  " — This  question  ( too  often  a  thoughtless  saluta- 
tion )  is  not  asked  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  how  the  person  addressed  does 
something,  as  the  words  really  imply  ( '  you  do  do  how  ' ) ,  but  how  he  is,  that  is,  in 
what  condition  as  regards  health,  etc.    The  question  should  be  "  How  are  you?  " 

14.  I  dare  say. — "  I  dare  say  you  had  a  pleasant  time."    It  does  not  require 
much  courage  to  dare  to  say  such  things. 

15.  I  never  remember. — "  I  never  remember  such  a  mild  winter  as  this." 
Similar  to  this,  but  much  more  common,  are  the  expressions  "  I  don't  think," 
"  I  don't  guess,"  etc.,  which  mean  just  the  opposite  of  what  those  who  use  them 
intend  to  say. 

16.  In  our  midst. — The  common  expression  "  in  our  midst  "  is  an  absurd 
one,  for  the    reason   that    midst    means    nearly,  if  not  exactly,  the  same   as 
middle.      "  We  have  in  our  midst,"  etc.,  should  be,  *'  We  have  among  us,"  or 
"  with  us,"  etc.    [See  John  xix:  18,] 


13o  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

17.  Innumerable  number.— The  absurdity  of  such  an  expression  is  so 
apparent  that  it  does  not  need  comment. 

18.  I  thought  to  myself. — Since  a  man  must  think  to  himself ,  if  he  thinks 
at  all,  the  "  to  myself  "  is  absurdly  superfluous. 

19.  It  should  seem. —  Strictly,  according   to   the  words,   this   expression 
means  "  it  ought  to  seem  but  does  not ;"    but  this  is  not  what  those  who  use 
it  mean.     It  is  a  modest  but  illogical  way  of  saying  simply  it  seems.      ( 385.) 

20.  Is  being  done,  Is  being  built,  etc.  —  Is  means  '  exists ; '  being 
means  'existing;'   done  means  'finished.'      Hence,  is  being  done  is,  literally 
taken, '  exists   existing   finished.'    And   so,  is  being  built  means  '  exists  exist- 
ing built.'     Considering  the  words  in  the  light  of  their  essential — their  un- 
changeable meaning,  these  phrases  are  about  as  absurd  as  any  that  could  be 
imagined ;  but  they  are  generally  understood  as  meaning  that  the  work  spoken 
of  is  not  finished,  but  progressing.    In  the  words  of  Mr.  Ramsey,  "Anyone  who 
will  invent  a  better  phrase  will  deserve  public  gratitude."    (386. ) 

21.  No  more  than  he  can  help. — "  He  does  no  more  than  he  can  help," 
or  "  He  does  no  more  than  he  can  keep  from  doing."     Say  '  He  does  no  more 
than  he  is  obliged  to  do,'  or  '  compelled  to  do.' 

22.  Of  all  others. — "  Of  all  others,  that  man  ought  to  be  the  last  to  com- 
plain," "  This  habit  is,  of  all  others,  the  hardest  to  break  up."    How  can  a  thing 
be  one  of  all  others  ? 

23.  On  every  hand. — Say  '  on  each  hand,'  '  both  hands,'  or  '  on  every  side.' 

24.  On  the  street. — This  expression  is  very  commonly  misused  for  in  the 
street,  the  latter  being  the  correct,  the  logical  phrase  ;  thus,  Crowds  are  in  the 
street,  not  on  the  street.     An  accident  occurs  in  (not  on  )  the  street.     ( 387.) 

25.  Powerful  weak. — "  He  was  powerful  weak  after  his  long  sickness." 
The  man  of  whom  this  was  said  must  have  been  a  "confirmed  invalid."    (2723.) 

26.  Quite  a  few,  Quite  a  little.— Whether  used  in  its  primary  sense  of 
completely,'    'entirely,  'totally,'  etc.,  or   in  its  American  sense  of  'to  a  con- 
siderable extent  or  degree,'    the  word  quite   before  a  few,   a   little,   and    so 
forth,  is  absurd.     "  We  have  quite  a  few  of  them."    "  It  is  quite  a  little  distance 
from  here." 

27.  Seldom  or  ever,  (or   never.) — This  meaningless  phrase   should  be 
"  seldom  if  ever;  "  as,  "  He  seldom,  if  ever,  fails  to  be  on  time." 

28.  Table  board. — There    are   few  words  in  our  language  so  absolutely 
synonymous  as  board  and  table,  the  one  being  the  English,  the  other  the  Ro- 
mance name  for  the  same  thing ;  so  that  table  board  is  simply  table-table  or 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  131 

board-board.  If  not  incorrect,  it  is  a  very  droll  combination  of  words,  for 
"  board  "  thus  means  that  which  is  placed  upon  a  board  or  table.  Board  is  one 
thing,  lodging  another;  so  that  we  see  signs  "board  and  lodging." — Every- 
Day  English. 

29.  The  exception  proves  the  rule. — How  can  an    exception  prove  a 
rule  ?    Probably  not  one  in  a  thousand  of  those  who  use  this  expression  un- 
derstands its  meaning,  or  stops  to  think  whether  it  really  means  anything.   The 
exception  proves  nothing,  unless  it  may  be  said  to  prove  itself.     (388.) 

30.  Too  much. — "It  is  not  best  to  eat  too  much  before  going  to  bed."     Of 
course  it  is  not  best  to  eat  "  too  much  "  at  any  time.      "  Too  much  dissipation, 
it  is  said,  was  the  cause  of  his  death."    Any  dissipation  is  "  too  much." 

"AWFUL"  WORDS. 

270.      i.     Dreadful. — To  speak  of  having  a  "dreadful  (or  dreadfully)  nice 
time,"  is  on  a  level  with  saying  "  an  awful  nice  day."     [See  Awful,  p.  133.] 

2.  Grand. — This  word  is  absurdly  used  in  such  expressions  as,    "  He  made 
a  grand  mistake."     "  It  was  a  grand  failure." 

3.  Horrid,  Horrible. — These  two  words  seem  to  be  favorites  with  those  who 
are  predisposed  to  make  "mountains  out  of  mole  hills"  in  their  use  of  Bnglish; 
and  so  we  hear  them  talk  about  "horrid  (or  horrible)  weather;"  "  a  horrible 
toothache,"  and  so  forth.     [  See  389.  ] 

4.  Immense. — This  word  seems  to  be  a  favorite  extravagance  with  Ameri- 
cans.    It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  on  signs,  or  to  read  in  advertisements  announc- 
ing "  special  sales,"  such  statements  as  "  Immense  reductions  in  shoes."    "  Im- 
mense discounts  on  all  our  goods."     Persons  who  use  immense  in  this  way 
certainly  do  not  understand  its  meaning.     They  might  as  well  say,  "prodigious 
reductions ;  "  "  unlimited  discounts." 

5.  Mighty. — "  I  am  mighty  glad  to  see  you."    Any  one  who  will  storj  to 
consider  the  meaning  of  mighty  will  see  the  absurdity  of  such  an  expression. 

6.  Splendid. — This  word  means  '  possessing  or  displaying  splendor,'  '  shin- 
ing,' '  being  brilliant,'   or  '  very  bright.'     Hence,  it  is  proper  to  speak  of  a 
'  splendid  sunset,'  a  '  splendid  diamond,'  a  *  splendid  palace,'  but  it  is  gross  ex- 
travagance to  speak  of  a  '  splendid  cup  of  coffee,'  a  '  splendid  sermon,'  a  '  splen- 
did man,'  or  to  say  of  a  woman  that '  she  sang  splendidly,'  or  that  anything  is 
done  '  splendidly.'     Many  persons  go  to  the  extent  of  speaking  of  such  things 
as  being  "  perfectly  splendid." 

7.  Terrible. — "  I  am  in  a  terrible  hurry."    If  you  are  in  the  habit  of  using 
the  word  ''terrible  "  in  this  way,  look  up  its  meaning  in  a  good  dictionary,  and 
then  rid  yourself  of  the  habit.    Avoid  all  such  expressions. 


132  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 


MISUSED   WORDS. 

271.  i.  Address,  Direct. — Address  is  commonly  misused  for  direct.  A 
letter  is  addressed,  at  the  beginning,  to  the  one  who  is  to  read  it,  but  directed 
(outside)  to  the  one  who  is  to  receive  it.  Hence,  packages  are  always  directed, 
not  addressed.  [  See  paragraph  390.] 

2.  Aggravate    for  irritate. — Aggravate  means    'to    add  to,'    'to    make 
heavy,  or  heavier.'     It  should  not  be  used  for  irritate,  which  means  '  to  anger,' 
'vex,'   'provoke,'    *  exasperate,'  etc.     Examples:     Injury  is  aggravated  by  the 
addition  of  insult.     He  irritates  me  by  his  impudence. 

3.  Among,  Between. — Between  ordinarily  applies  to  two;  among  to  a 
greater  number ;   as,   "  The   farmer  divided  his  property  between  two  sons  ;  his 
money,  among  three  daughters."    [  See  Divide,  326.  ] 

4.  Answer,  Reply. — We  answer  questions  and  reply  to  charges  or  assertions 
In  answering  letters  for  the  purpose  of  giving  information,  do  not  say,  "  In  reply 
to  your  letter,"  etc. 

5.  Apt,  Liable,  Likely. — Apt  means '  quick,' '  inclined,'  or '  disposed  to  do ; ' 
hence  applicable  to  persons  only ;  as,  "  A  pupil  apt  to  learn."    "  Men  are  apt  to 
slander  others." 

Liable  means  *  responsible,*  '  exposed  to,'  or  '  in  danger  of.'  It  is  applicable 
to  both  persons  and  things ;  as,  "  They  are  liable  for  the  cost  of  the  goods." 
"Tall  trees  are  liable  to  be  struck  by  lightning."  "  He  is  liable  to  get  hurt." 

Likely  means  having  '  probability,'  '  giving  reason  to  expect; '  as,  "  He  is  likely 
to  come  again."  "  It  is  not  likely  to  occur  soon."  "  I  am  not  likely  to  go." 

These  three  words  are  very  commonly  misused.  The  errors  occur  chiefly 
in  the  use  of  apt  for  liable  or  likely.  Liable  is  also  misused  for  likely,  but 
likely  is  seldom  misused  in  the  place  of  either  of  the  others. 

6.  At  length,  At  last. — When  reference  is  made  to  time,  at  last  should  be 
used;  as,  "At  last  we  came  to  our  journey's  end."     At  length  means  '  in  full ' 
or  'to  a  considerable  extent;'  as,  "  He  wrote  to  me  at  length  about  the  affair." 

7.  Avocation  for  vocation. — A  man's  vocation  is  his  business  or  calling ; 
that  in  which  he  is  regularly  engaged.    His  avocations  are  the  things  which  call 
him  away  from  his  regular  work :  vocare,  to  call ;  a-vocare,  to  call  away.    Thus 
a  lawyer's  vocation,  properly  speaking,  is  the  practice  of  law.    When  he  leaves 
his  business  and  goes  a-fishing,  the  latter  is,  for  the  time,  his  avocation. 

8.  A  while  and  Awhile. —  While  was  originally  regarded  as  a  noun  preceded 
by  the  article  a.    When  used  to  limit  a  verb,  the  two  are  now  written  together 
and  regarded  as  a  pure  adverb.    But  when  they  follow  a  preposition  they  are 
written  separately,  while  then  being  a  noun.    Examples :    This  will  do  for  a 
while.    He  will  go  in  a  little  while. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  133 

9.  Awful  for  very  or  exceedingly. — Awful  means  '  frightful,'  and  is  appli- 
cable to  that  which  strikes  with  awe  or  fills  with  reverence  mingled  with  fear 
or  admiration.     Neither  it  nor  the  adverb  awfully  should  be  applied  to  common 
or  ordinary  happenings.     Thus  we  speak  of  an  awful  explosion,  an  awful  ship- 
wreck, or  an  awful  disaster  of  any  kind ;  but  we  should  not  say  '  an  awful  boy,' 
'  an  awful  mistake,'   '  an  awful  nice  time,'   '  an  awfully  nice  fellow,'  and  so  forth. 

10.  Balance  for  remainder  or  rest. — Balance  as  a  noun  means  that  which 
makes  equal,  hence  it  is  correct  to  speak  of  the  balance  of  a  man's  account, 
meaning  the  amount  required  to  make  the  two  sides  of  his  account  equal.    [  See 
Webster.  ]     Balance  is  incorrectly  used  for  remainder  or  rest  in  such  expres- 
sions as  '  the  balance  of  the  day ; '  '  the  balance  of  the  crowd ; '  '  the  balance  of 
the  crop  ; '  '  the  balance  of  the  man's  money.' 

n.  Beat. — This  word  is  commonly  misused  for  defeat;  as,  "He  beat  the 
other  fellow  on  election  day."  "  The  man  they  proposed  for  candidate  was  beaten 
in  the  primaries."  Beat  is  also  misused  for  excelled  or  surpassed  in  such  state- 
ments as,  "  She  beat  all  her  classmates  in  mathematics."  "  He  beat  all  the 
others  in  logical  argument" 

12.  Beside,  Besides. — Beside  means   place ;   as,    "  He  stood  beside   me." 
Besides  means  '  in  addition  to ; '  as,  "  There  were  two  others  there  besides  him." 

13.  Both  is  misused  for  each;  as,  "An  ancient  oak  stood  on  both  sides  of 
the  road."     [  See  Either.  ] 

14.  Bound. — The  use  of  this  word  as  an  adjective  in  the  sense  of  sure,  cer- 
tain^ or  determined,  is  incorrect ;    as,    "  He  is  bound    ( sure,  certain, )    to   be 
defeated."  J*  I  am  bound  ( determined )  to  go." 

15.  Bountiful. — This  word  applies  to  persons,  not  to  things.    Thus,  we  may 
say  of  one  who  bestows  great  benefits  or  gives  large  gifts  that '  he  is  a  bountiful 
person,'  and  so  one  stanza  of  a  well-known  Sunday  School  song  begins  :     "  Up 
to  the  bountiful  Giver  of  life,"  etc.    We  should  not  pervert  this  word  and  make 
it  do  duty  for  plentiful,  large,  abundant,  etc.,  in  such  expressions  as  '  a  bounti- 
ful dinner,'  '  a  bountiful  crop,'  '  a  bountiful  supply.' 

16.  Bring,  Fetch. — Bring  implies  motion  in  one  direction ;  fetch  indicates 
motion  in  two  directions.    Thus,  the  farmer  calls  to  his  son  and  says,  "  Bring 
me  the  rake  you  are  using."     If  he  sends  the  boy  for  the  rake  he  says,  "  Go  and 
bring  me  the  rake."    In  the  latter  case  he  might  say  "Fetch  me  the  rake,"  since 
fetch  implies  both  going  and  bringing.     Hence  it  is  superfluous  to  say  "  Go  and 
fetch  me  the  rake." 

17.  Can,  May. — May  asks  or  grants  permission ;  can  has  reference  to  ability. 
The  common  error  is  not  in  using  may  for  can,  but  in  using  can  to  ask  or 
grant  permission  where  may  should  be  used;  as,  "  Can  I  borrow  your  book ?" 
"  Can  I  have  the  pleasure  of  your  company?  " 


134  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

272.  i.  Can  not  and  Cannot.  — When  absolute  inability  (from  any 
cause )  is  asserted,  cannot  should  be  used.  When  mere  unwillingness  is  meant 
( the  ability  to  do  not  being  denied ) ,  use  the  two  words  can  not.  Examples  :  I 
cannot  hear  as  well  as  I  did  then.  We  can  not  sell  you  these  goods  at  the 
price  we  did  last  year.  I  can  not  tell  a  lie. 

2.  Calculate  for  intend  or  expect. — Calculate  means  to  compute  or  reck- 
on ;  as,  to  calculate  the  cost  of  a  farm  at  so  much  per  acre  ;  or,  to  calculate  the 
distance  in  miles  between  two  places,  the  difference  of  longitude  or  latitude  be- 
ing given.     The  word  is  incorrectly  used  in  such  sentences  as  the  following : 
"  They  calculate  to  go  to  the  World's  Fair."     "  He  calculates  to  get  married." 
Say  'intend  '  or  '  expect.'      Calculated 'is  also  commonly  used  to  take  the  place 
of  likely  or  liable  ;  as,  "  Such  mistakes  are  calculated  to  do  much  harm."    "  The 
storm  is  calculated  to  interfere  with  travel  and  traffic."     We  may,  however,  say, 
'  That  man's  meanness  is  calculated  to  do  much  harm,'  or  that  '  the  strike  was 
calculated  to  interfere  with  travel  and  traffic; '  for  the  man  may  have  planned, 
reckoned, — calculated   upon  doing  harm ;  and  the  strikers  doubtless  planned 
the  strike  and  reckoned  ('calculated')  upon  its  having  just  such  an  effect. 

3.  Confirmed  for  chronic  or  hopeless.— Confirm  means  '  to  make  firm,'  '  to 
give  strength  to,'  but  we  sometimes  hear  of  a  confirmed  invalid.     Can  weakness 
be  strong?    If  not,  how  can  a  man  be  a  confirmed  ('  strengthened  ')  invalid  ? 

4.  Consequence. — As  it  is  used  in  the  familiar  phrase,  "  it  is  of  no  conse- 
quence," this  word  might  be  classed  with  "popular  absurdities."     Consequence 
means  '  that  which  follows — a  result;  hence, "  it  is  of  no  consequence  "  is  equiv- 
alent to  '  it  is  of  no  result'    What  those  who  use  this  expression  mean  is  that  the 
matter  is  of  no  importance. 

5.  Consider. — Consider  means  '  to  ponder,'  '  to  think  over,"  to  weigh  care- 
fully, with  a  view  to  forming  an  opinion  or  giving  an  answer.'    It  is  incorrectly 
used  for  think  or  regard in  such  sentences  as,  "  I  consider  him  an  honest  man." 
"  We  do  not  consider  that  it  is  our  place  to  do  this." 

6.  Couple  of  for  two. — The  words  couple  of  are  incorrectly  used  for  two  in 
such  expressions    as   '  a  couple   of  men,'  '  a  couple  of  letters,'  '  a  couple   of 
stamps.'     Two  things  that  are  coupled,  or  bound  together  by  some  'copula,'  are 
a  couple  ;  as,  'a  couple  or  yoke  of  oxen/  *  a  couple  of  cars '   ( two  cars  coupled 
together ) ;  and  so  a  man  and  his  wife  are  a  couple  united  by  the  marriage 
bond.     (391.) 

7.  Dangerous  is  incorrectly  used  for  the  phrase  in  danger  in  the  following 
sentence :     "  His  death  was  a  surprise  to  all,  for  he  was  not  thought  to  be 
dangerous." 

8.  Depot  for  station. — Station  means  a  stopping  or  a  standing  place  ;  depot 
means  a  place  for  storing  materials ;  hence,  instead  of  "  railroad  depot,"  we 
should  say  "  railroad  station,"  or,  better  still,  "  railway  station."     (392. ) 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  135 

9.  Drive  for  ride. — The  misuse  of  drive  for  ride  is  very  common  in  this 
country,  as  well  as  in  England,  where  it  originated.  Even  well  educated  persons 
will  say,  "  Let  us  take  a  drive  in,  the  surrey,"  or,  "  We  went  to  drive  in  the 
country,"  when  they  mean  "  ride."  The  coachman  or  driver  drives. 

10.  Every  thing  and  Everything. — Every  thing  means  each  thing  ;  every- 
thing means  all  taken  together ;  as,  "  He  gave  the  highest  market  price  for 
every  thing  he  bought."    "They  sold  everything  they  had  for  a  few  dollars." 

11.  Every  in  such  sentences  as,  "  We  have  every  confidence  in  the  man," 
is  misused  for  entire,  or  perfect. 

12.  Either,  Neither,  and  Both. — Each  of  these  words  applies  to  but  two 
objects,  yet  they  are  commonly  misused  by  being  applied  to  three  or  a  greater 
number;  as,  "Either  (or  neither}  of  the  four  boys  could  have  done  the  work 
alone."    Either  means   one  or  the    other    (of  two);  both  means  one  and  the 
other.    Neither  means  'not  either ' — not  one  nor  the  other,  of  two.     (393.) 

13.  Etc.,  &c. — According  to  the  Century  Dictionary,  etc.  and  &c.  are  both 
abbreviations  of  the  Latin  phrase  etcetera,  meaning  '  and  the  rest.'    The  sign  &c. 
is  commonly  read  "and  so  forth  ";  it  should,  therefore,  be  used  only  when  the 
meaning  is  "  and  others  like  them."     Etc.  should  always  be  read  "  St-s£/e-r5," 
and  used  when  the  meaning  is  "and  the  rest"  or  "and  other  things  not  men- 
tioned."   The  use  of  "etc.,  etc.,  "  or  "  £c.,  &c.,  &c.,"  is  absurd. 

14.  Evidence,  Testimony. — Concerning  the  distinction    between    these 
words,  Mathews  says  :     "  Evidence  is  a  word  much  abused  by  learned  judges  and 
attorneys, — being  continually  used  for  testimony.    Evidence  relates  to  the  con- 
victive  view  of  any  one's  mind ;  testimony,  to  the  knowledge  of  another  con- 
cerning som.e  fact.     The  evidence  in  a  case  is  often  the  reverse  of  the  testimony." 

15.  Example,  Problem. — An  example  is  that   which  is  to  be   followed, 
or  imitated  as  a  model, — that  which  serves  to   illustrate.      A    problem   is   a 
question  proposed  for  solution,  that  which  is  to  be  worked  out  according  to 
some  rule.     An  example  is  a  problem  that  has  been  solved  and  the  solution 
written  out  to  illustrate  or  make  the  rule  clear. 

16.  Execute. — The  common  tendency  in  the  use  of  words  is  to  make  them 
general  in  meaning  instead  of  specific — making  them  mean  so  much  that  they 
mean  nothing  ;  but  as  great  an  error  is  made  when  a  general  term  is  used  with 
a  specific  meaning.     The  word  execute  in  one  of  its  common  ( though  incor- 
rect) uses  is  an  illustration  of  this.     Its  true  meaning  is  '  to  follow  to  the  end,' 
'to  carry  into  complete  effect,'  '  to  finish; '  as  to  execute  an  order,  to  execute 
the  laws,  to  execute  a  piece  of  work.     Hence,  to  speak  of  executing  a  man  is  an 
absurd  use  of  the  word.    Besides,  to  say  that  a  man  "  was  executed  "  is  indefinite, 
though  it  is  generally  understood  that  he  was  put  to  death  by  hanging.     If  a 
man  is  to  be  hanged,  or  shot,  or  killed  by  electricity,  say  so.     It  may  not  sound 
so  elegant  as  "  executed,"  but  the  meaning  will  be  definite. 


136  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

273.  i.  Expect  for  suppose,  think,  believe. — Expect  means  'to  wait,'  'to 
look  for/  '  look  forward  to,'  and,  hence,  can  be  applied  only  to  things  in  the 
future,  to  that  which  is  yet  to  happen  ;  as,  "  I  expect  to  get  a  letter  tomorrow." 
"They  will  expect  us  to  come."  It  is  incorrectly  used  in  such  expressions  as, 
"  I  expect  you  had  a  pleasant  time."  "  I  expect  she  is  sick." 

2.  Farther,  Further.— Comparatively  few  people  observe  the  distinction 
between  these  words.    Farther  has  reference  to  distance  or  extent ;  as,  "  He 
could  go  no  farther."     "  He  went  farther  into  the  matter  than  I  should  have 
gone."    Further  means 'more;'  as,  "  I  have  nothing  further  to  say  about  it." 

3.  Fix  for  repair  and  draw. — The  word  fix,  which  primarily  meant   '  to 
make  firm/  '  to  set/  '  to  establish/  has  been   degraded  or  weakened  by  being 
made  to  do  the  work  of  mend,  repair,  and  even  of  draw ;  as,  "The  lawyer  will 
fix  up  the  papers."     "They  fixed  the  broken  machinery."     "What  will  you 
charge  for  fixing  my  shoes  ?  " 

4.  Foot  for  pay. — To  foot  a  bill  or  account  is  to  add  or  to  sum  up  the 
columns  of  figures,  to  place  the  amount  at  the  foot  or  bottom.     Hence,  when  a 
man  says  he  will  '  foot  the  bill/  he  literally  promises  nothing  more  than  that  he 
will  add  the  figures  and  ascertain  the  amount  of  the  bill.     If  people  had  to  do 
nothing  more  than  "  foot "  their  bills  it  would  be  an  easy  way  of  paying  for 
goods.    The  fact  is  that  the  merchant  or  book-keeper  will/00/  our  bills  and  ex- 
pect us  to  pay  them. 

5.  Get. — The    primary  and  essential  meaning  of  this  word  is  'to  obtain 
by  effort/  i.  e.,  to  come  into  possession  of  a  thing  by  some  act  or  effort  on 
the  part  of  the  possessor.    Thus  a  man  may  get  a  new  hat,  get  a  wife,  get  a 
home,  and  he  may,  by  carelessness,  get  a  cold,  and  in  speaking  of  these  things 
afterward  he  may  say  he  got  such  and  such  a  thing.     Get  has  also  a  variety 
of  uses  in  idiomatic  expressions  where  it  signifies  '  to  become/  '  to  leave/  '  to 
reach/  etc. ;  as,  to  get  tired,  get  lost,  get  away,  get  to  bed,  get  to  sleep. 

The  word  should  not  be  used  to  denote  possession  or  the  getting  of  that 
which  a  person  makes  no  effort  to  obtain;  as,  to  say  of  a  man  that  he  'got  a 
present/  '  got  a  letter/  '  got  left/  '  got  arrested/  or  that  he  '  got  killed.'  What  is 
meant,  and  what  we  should  say  in  such  cases,  is  that  the  person  received  a  letter 
or  present,  that  he  was  arrested,  was  left,  was  killed,  and  so  forth.  Another  and 
more  common  error  is  the  use  of  got  after  have  to  denote  mere  possession.  Thus, 
"  I  have  got  a  watch,"  "  He  has  got  fever,"  "  They  had  got  my  telegram." 

6.  Grow. — Next  to  get,  this  is  probably  our  most   variously  used  verb. 
Grow  means  to  '  increase/  '  enlarge/  '  develop.'    It  is  allowable  in  such  idiomatic 
expressions  as  '  grow  bright/  '  grow  dark/  '  grow  weary/  where  it  is  used  in  the 
sense  of  become ;  but  its  use  in  such  sentences  as,  "  His  desire  for  it  grew  less 
and  less,"  My  fortune  grows  smaller,"  "  The  days  are  growing  shorter,"  is  illog- 
ical, not  to  say  absurd. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  137 

7.  Guess  for  think,  believe,  suppose. — Americans  are  the  greatest  "  guessers  " 
in  the  world.     They  "guess"  this,  "guess"  that,  and  "guess"  the  other  thing, 
when  they  really  do  not  guess,  but  think,  suppose,  or  believe. 

8.  Hardly  for  scarcely. — Hardly  has  reference  to  degree,  scarcely  to  quan- 
tity; as,  "They  have  scarcely  enough  for  their  own  use."     "  He  is  hardly  able 
to  walk  yet."    The  words  are  incorrectly  used  in  the  following :  "  He  is  scarcely 
old  enough  to  understand  it."     "  There  was  hardly  anything  said." 

9.  Healthy,  Healthful,  Wholesome. — We  may  speak  of  a  healthy  or 
unhealthy  person  or  animal  and  of  a  healthful  climate.     Wholesome  ( or  un- 
wholesome) is  applicable  to  food,  water,  air,  etc. 

10.  Heap  for  very  or  a  great  deal. — "  He  thinks  a  heap  of  her."     "  He  can 
do  a  heap  of  work  in  a  day."     We   may  have  a  heap  (pile)  of  logs,  a  heap  of 
dirt,  or  a  heap  of  stones ;  but  not '  a  heap  of  work  '  or  '  a  heap  of  love.' 

11.  Help  is  commonly  misused  for  avoid  or  keep  from ;  as,  "I  could  not 
help  laughing  at  him."     "  He  could  not  help  doing  that." 

12.  Ill  for  sick. — ///  is  an  adverb  and  should  not  be  used  as  an  adjective ;  as, 
"I  am  ill."     "  She  was  quite  ill."     Use  "sick  "  in  all  such  cases.     (394.) 

13.  Lady  for  wife. — The  word  lady,  as  a  substitute  for  wife,  is  a  snobbish 
vulgarism,  which  may  have  originated  with  a  clerk  in  a  hotel.     Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Somebody  arrived  at  the  hotel,  and  the  clerk  officiously  recorded  their  names, — 
"  Mr.  Somebody  and  Lady."— Gould's  "  Good  English:' 

14.  Learn,  Teach. — Learn  means  to  acquire  (get)  knowledge;  teach  means 
to  impart  knowledge.     Hence  it  is  incorrect  to  say,  "  He  learned  me  to  write." 
"  I  will  learn  you  better  manners." 

15.  Less,  Fewer. — Less  relates  to  quantity ;  fewer  to  number.     [  See  Quan- 
tity. ]     "I  have  less  money  than  he  has,  but  he  has  fewer  friends  than  I  have." 

16.  Likewise,  Also. — Likewise,  which  means  '  in  like  manner,'  is  misused 
for  also.     "  Also  classes  together  things  or  qualities,  whilst  likewise  couples  ac- 
tions or  states  of  being." — Mathews.     ( 395. ) 

17.  Love  and  Like. — These  words  should  not  be  used  indiscriminately.  Love 
is  much  the  stronger  term  and  should  not  be  applied  except  to  those  objects 
for  which  a  person  may  have  affection,  or  to  which  he  may  be  devoted.    We 
may  like  peaches,  flowers,  to  hear  someone  sing,  and  so  forth,  but  we  should 
not  speak  of  loving  such  things. 

18.  Majority. — This  word  is  not  applicable  to  anything  but  persons.    It  is 
erroneously  used  in  such  expressions  as,  "  a  majority  of  the  time  ;  "  "a  majority 
of  the  money."     Say  '  the  greater  part,'  or  '  more  than  half.' 

19.  Mind. — This  word  is,  by  many,  incorrectly  used  for  remember  ;  as,  "  Do 
you  mind  that  time  ?  " 


138  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

274.  I.  Mistaken.— The  principal  parts  of  mistake  ( mis-take,  i.e.,  'to 
take  amiss ')  are  mistake,  mistook,  mistaken.  The  verb  is  correctly  used  in  "  He 
mistook  me  for  another  person."  "  Smith  was  mistaken  for  another  man  hav- 
ing the  same  name."  "Your  statement  was  mistaken  ('  misunderstood ')  by 
the  class."  This  is  the  true  meaning  of  mistaken  ;  but  nothing  is  more  com- 
mon than  to  hear  persons  say,  "  I  am  mistaken  "  or  "  was  mistaken  about  it,  " 
"  You  are  mistaken  about  that  matter,"  and  so  forth,  by  which  they  mean,  not 
that  the  person  has  been  '  taken  amiss  '  or  that  his  words  are  misunderstood, 
but  that  he  is  ( or  was )  incorrect,  or  in  error.  [  See  262*.] 

2.  Nice. — To   say  the  least,  this  word  is  very  much  overworked,  and  its  in- 
discriminate use  for  '  fine,'  '  pleasant,'  '  good,'  etc.,  should  be  avoided.    (396. ) 

3.  Own. — This  word  means  primarily  '  to  possess,'  and  there  is  no  excuse 
for  its  use  in  the  sense  of  admit,  or  confess  ;  as,  "  I  own  he  has  good  grounds 
for  complaint."     ( 397. ) 

4.  Party  for  person,    man,  or  woman. — A  party  is  a  number  of  persons 
united  or  gathered  for  some  purpose.     The  term  is  also  applied  to  one  person 
who  takes  a  part  with  others  in  anything.     Hence  we  talk  of  a  man's  being 
party  to  a  crime  (particeps  criminis)  or  of  his  being  one  of  the  parties  to  a 
contract.     But  to  speak  of  "  the  party  who  called  upon  me  yesterday  "  is  at»  in- 
correct use  of  the  word, — a  use  quite  unnecessary. 

5.  Partially  for  partly—"  Partially,"  the  adverb  of  partial,  means  an  un- 
just or  unreasonable  bias.    When  anything  is  done  in  part  it  is  partly  (not 
partially}  done. 

6.  Patrons   for  customers.     Patronage  for  trade.  — Patron   means   one 
who  supports,  favors,  protects,  or  gives  aid  to  another  who  is  dependent  upon 
him.     The  misuse  of  this  word  for  customers  is  quite  common  in  this  country, 
as  is  also  the  use  of  patronage  for  trade. 

Patronage  means  "  special  countenance,  favor,  or  aid  afforded  to  second  the 
views  of  a  person  or  to  promote  a  design."  The  commercial  use  of  the  word  so 
common  in  this  country  is  mere  cant  and  should  be  discarded.  Such  expressions 
as,  "  The  favor  of  your  patronage  is  solicited,"  "  Thanking  you  for  the  favor  of 
your  patronage,"  etc.,  are  absurd.  "The  favor  of  your  patronage  "  is  equivalent 
to  "  the  favor  of  your  favor." 

7.  Particle. — This  word,  which  means  the  smallest  possible  part  of  a  ma- 
terial substance,  is  incorrectly  applied  to  things  that  are  not  material,  hence  not 
divisible  into  parts ;  as,  "  I  did  not  get  a  particle  of  rest  last  night."     "  They 
did  not  derive  a  particle  of  benefit  from  it."     Any  may  be  substituted  for  "  par- 
ticle "  in  these  sentences.     Bit  may  also  be  used  to  take  its  place,  though  it  is 
open  to  the  same  criticism  as  '  particle.' 

8.  Pell-mell. — This  word  or  expression  implies  a  crowd  and  should  never 
be  applied  to  one  person  ;  as,  "  He  rushed  out  of  the  house  pell-mell"    (  398. ) 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  139 

9.  Plenty. — The  misuse  of  this  noun  for  the  adjective  "  plentiful  "  has 
been  pointed  out.  (Page  no.)  Plenty  means  a  sufficient  supply  of  anything 
but  it  does  not  refer  to  numbers.  It  is  correctly  used  in,  "  There  is  plenty  of 
room  for  all."  "There  is  plenty  of  food,"  etc.;  but  incorrectly  used  in  such 
sentences  as,  "  Plenty  of  the  crowd  were  willing  to  undertake  it."  "  Plenty  of 
us  were  present  to  transact  the  business."  This  use  of  the  word  is  just  as 
absurd  as  to  say,  as  some  people  do,  that  "  an  abundance  of  us  were  present,"  or 
that  "  an  abundance  of  the  crowd  were  willing  " — etc. 

10.  Portion  for  part. — "  A  portion  is  a  part  set  aside  for  a  special  purpose, 
or  to  be  considered  by  itself." — White.     Hence  it  is  incorrect  to  say  "  A  large 
portion  of  the  city  was  destroyed  by  fire ;  "  "  He  was  absent  a  portion  of  the 
time."   Portion  is  correctly  used  in  the  speech  of  the  prodigal  son  [  Luke  xv,  12  ]: 
"  Father,  give  me  the  portion  of  goods  that  falleth  to  me." 

11.  Post  for  inform. — "You  should    post  yourself  on  that  point."      "We 
will  keep  you  posted  in  regard  to  the  matter."     Say  '  inform  '  or  '  informed.' 

12.  Present  for  introduce. — The  use  of  present  for  introduce  in  the  sense  of 
'  make  acquainted '  ( as  to  introduce  a  friend )  is  a  French  affectation  that  should 
be  avoided  by  all  lovers  of  pure  English.     ( 399. ) 

13-     Quantity,  Number. — Quantity  has   reference  to   that  which  may  be 
weighed  or  measured;  number  has  reference  to  that  which  is  counted. 

14.  Raise. — This  word  is  sometimes  incorrectly  used  for  increase  in  such  sen- 
tences as,  "  Our  landlord  has  raised  the  rent."     "  I  shall  be  obliged  to  raise  your 
rent."     (400.)     Lower  is  similarly  misused ;  as,  "They  lowered  his  wages." 

15.  Recommend. — "The  committee  recommends  that  a  special  meeting 
shall  be  calle4."     Say  '  advises,'  '  suggests,'  or  *  requests.' 

16.  Recollect,  Remember. — These  words  are  not  synonymous,  though  they 
are  generally  used  as  though  they  were.     We  may  be  able  to  recollect  ( re-col- 
lect) what  we  have  forgotten,  that  is,  what  we  do  not  at  the  moment  remember. 
Hence,  "I  cannot  remember,"  or  "I  am  not  able  to  remember,"  are  incorrect; 
and  so  is  "  I  recollect  very  well  when  it  happened."     (401.) 

17.  Reputable  for  respectable. — A  man's  reputation  is  what  other  people 
think  of  him,  the  estimation  in   which  he  is   held.     That  reputation  may  be 
either  good  or  bad.     [  See  p.  97.  ]    Hence  to  say  of  a  man  that  he  is  a  reputable 
person  is  rather  indefinite.     The  writer  of  an  article  which  recently  appeared  in 
one  of  our  leading  magazines   said  concerning  the  proceedings  in  a  certain 
meeting,  "It  was  a  scene   calculated  to  make  every   reputable  citizen  of  the 
State  hang  his  head  in  humiliation."     He  should  have  said  "  every  respectable 
citizen."     [  See  Calculated.  ] 

18.  Section. — This  is  a  good  word,  but  much  used,  and  unnecessarily  so,  for 
'  part,' '  region,'  *  neighborhood,'  '  vicinity.' 


140  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

275.  i.  Settle. — "To  settle  is  to  fix  firmly  and  so  to  adjust ;  and  there- 
fore  the  adjusting  of  accounts  is  well  called  by  figure  their  settlement." — White. 
Nothing  is  gained  but  something  lost  by  using  settle  for  pay,  for,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Mr.  White,  "It  displaces  one  good  word  and  perverts  another;  while 
the  use  of  '  settle  '  without  any  object,  which  is  sometimes  heard,  as,  '  Hadn't 
you  better  settle  with  me,'  is  hideous." 

2.  Some  time  and  sometime. — In  writing  of  an  indefinite  time,  use  some- 
time^ but  if  referring  to  a  length  of  time,  use  some  time  ;  as,  "  I  will  tell  you 
sometime."    "  It  will  take  some  time  to  finish  the  work." 

3.  State  for  say. — "  State,  from  status,  means  to  set  forth  the  condition  un- 
der which  a  person,  or  thing,  or  a  cause  stands.     A  bankrupt  is  called  upon  to 
state  his  condition,  to  make  a  statement  of  his  affairs.     But  if  a  man  merely 
says  a  thing,  do  let  us  say  merely  that  he  says  it." —  White. 

4.  Stop  and  stay. — Stop  means  to  halt,  to  quit  going,  and  should  not  be 
used  to  mean  stay  ( remain )  at  a  place  for  a  length  of  time.     A  railway  train 
may  stop  at  each  of  the  stations  along  the  line  but  the  length  of  time  it  stays 
at  these  stations  will  probably  vary.    A  man  should  not  speak  of  '  stopping  at  a 
hotel '  for  two  days  or  two  weeks.     The  *  stop  '  is  instantaneous  ;  the  '  stay  '  may 
continue  indefinitely. 

5.  Storm. — This  word,  as  it  is  used  by  most  persons,  might  be  classed  with 
"  extravagant  expressions."     Storm  means  a  fierce  commotion  of  the  elements 
and  should  not  be  applied  to  gentle  rains,  slight  snow-falls,  and  so  forth. 

6.  Take  for  charge. — Take  is  incorrectly  used  for  charge  after  how  much, 
in  such  expressions  as,  "  How  much  will  you  take  to  teach  me  to  paint  ?  "    "  How 
much  will  you  take  for  this  ?"     Take  is  correctly  used  in  :     "What  is  the  least 
you  will  take  for  the  horse  ?  "    Even  here,  accept  is  a  better  word. 

Take  is  further  misused  for  lead  or  direct  in,  "  This  path  will  take  you  to 
his  house."    "  This  road  will  take  you  to  town." 

7.  Talk  for  speak. — Talk  is  often  misused  for  speak  in  such  expressions 
as,  "  He  talks  German."      "  She  talks  French."     Say  '  He  speaks  German,'  etc. 

8.  Try  for  make. — In  the  expression  "  try  the  experiment,"  try  is  incor- 
rectly used  for  make.     Say  '  make  the  experiment.' 

9.  Turn  for  pour. — Say  '  pour  the  tea,'  '  pour  the  coffee,'  '  pour  the  water,' 
not '  turn  the  tea,' '  turn  the  coffee,'  etc. 

10.  Veracity  and  Truth. —  Veracity  (truthfulness)  is  applicable  to  per- 
sons only  ;  truth  to  things.  "  A  story  is  or  is  not  true  ;  a  man  is  or  is  not  vera- 
cious— if  truthful  is  too  plain  a  word.  We  may  doubt  the  truth  of  a  story  be- 
cause we  doubt  the  veracity,  or,  better,  the  truthfulness,  of  the  teller." — Words 
and  Their  Uses. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH. 


BIG  WORDS  FOR  LITTLE  IDEAS. 

276.  I.  Abundance. — This  word  is  applicable  to  quantity  only.  It 
should  never  be  used  when  numbers  are  referred  to.  [See  Quantity  and 
Plenty,  p.  139.] 

2.  Accord  for  grant. — To  accord  means  properly  '  to  agree  to,'  '  to  suit ; ' 
as,  "  His  views  accorded  with  mine  ;"  but    "We  will  accord  them  ( or  to  them) 
all  they  ask  for  "  is  incorrect. 

3.  Anticipate. — This  big  word  is  often  misused  for  the  simple  term  expect, 
in  such  sentences  as,  "I  anticipate  going."     "Do  you  anticipate  a  large  crowd 
tonight  ?  "    It  is  correctly  used  in  the  following  sentence  :     "  My  friend  antici- 
pated my  wishes  and  made  me  a  present  of  a  copy  of  the  poems."     (402.) 

4.  Appreciate  for  rise,  or  '  increase  in  value ; '  as,  "  Gold  usually  appreci- 
ates  under  such  circumstances."     This  is   an    Americanism   that  should  be 
avoided  by  all  who  wish  to  talk  to  be  understood. 

5.  Caption. — This  word  is  sometimes  misused  for  title  or  heading.     ( 403. ) 

6.  Carnival. — The  radical  and  literal  meaning  of  this  word  is  '  farewell  to 
meat.'    In  Catholic  countries  it  signifies  a  festival  celebrated  with  merriment 
and  revelry  during  the  week  before  Lent,  but  in  this  country  the  word  has  been 
misused  to  signify  a  spree,  frolic,  or  festival  of  any  kind.     Mathews,  comment- 
ing on  this  word,  says :     "  As  we  have  plenty  of  legitimate  words  to  describe 
these  festivals,  the  use  of  this  outlandish  term  has  not  a  shadow  of  justification." 

7.  Celebrities. — The  use  of  this  word  for  celebrated  persons  or  persons  of 
celebrity  belongs  to  an  inflated,  newspaper  style  too  common  in  this  country. 
In  fact,  its  use  has  hardly  passed  beyond  reporters'  columns,  but  persons  with 
big-word  tendencies  would  do  well  to  guard  against  it. 

8.  Consummated. — Persons  who  speak  of  weddings  and  say  that  the  mar- 
riage was   consummated  at  such  a  time   or  such  a  place   might  better  confine 
themselves  to  plain  English  and  say  that  the  ceremony  or  wedding  '  occurred  ' 
or  '  took  place,'  etc. 

9.  Contemplate   for  intend  or  expect. — Contemplate  means  primarily  to 
study,  to  consider,  to  meditate  upon.     Persons  who  are  predisposed  to  use  big 
words  will  often  say  they  '  contemplate,'  when  they  mean  and  might  better  say, 
simply,  that  they  intend  or  expect  to  do  so  and  so. 

10.  Depreciate  for  lessen  or  decrease. — This  word  may  properly  be  used  in 
the  sense  of  '  underrate  '  or  '  to  represent  as  of  little  value,'  but  its  use  in  the 
sense  of  *  lessen  '  or  '  decrease  '  is  as  unnecessary  and  inexcusable  as  appreciate 
for  '  rise '  or  *  increase.' 


142  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

277.     ii.     Disremember. — This  is  certainly  a  poor  substitute  for  '  forget' 
or  '  do  not  remember.' 

12.  Extend  for  give  or  send. — Persons  who  wished  to  appear  elegant  in  their 
language  began  to  say   "extend  invitation,"    "extend  congratulations;"   and 
now  nearly  every  one  uses  the  word  in  these  connections,  supposing  it  to  be  a 
synonym  of  give  or  send.     But  such  a  use  of  the  word  is  unwarranted.     Extend 
means  '  to  stretch  forth,'  '  to  prolong,'  '  to  enlarge ; '  hence  it  is  correct  to  speak 
of  extending  the  time  of  a  bill  or  note,  or  of  extending  one's  hand,  or  to  say  of 
a  queen  that '  her  object  is  to  extend  her  domains.'     ( 2.) 

13.  Gubernatorial. — Richard   Grant  White,  in   "  Words  and  their   Uses," 
classes  this  among  the  '  words  that  are  not  words  '  and  comments  upon  it  as  fol- 
lows :  "  This  clumsy  piece  of  verbal  pomposity  should  be  thrust  out  of  use  and 
that  speedily.     While  the  chief  officers  of  states  are  called  governors  and  not 
gubernators,  we  may  better  speak  of  the  governor's  house,  and  of  the  governor's 
room  than  of  the  '  gubernatorial  mansion  '  and  the  '  gubernatorial  chamber ; ' 
and  why  that  which  relates  to  government  should  be  called  '  gubernatorial ' 
rather  than  governmental,  except  for  the  sake  of  being  at  once  pedantic,  un- 
couth, and  outlandish,  it  would  be  hard  to  tell." 

14.  Inaugurate  for  adopt,  begin,  open,  establish. — Inaugurate  means  prima- 
rily '  to  introduce  or  induct  into  an  office  with  suitable  ceremonies.'    It  does 
not  mean  adopt,  begin,  etc.,  except  as  it  has  been  forced  to  such  a  meaning  by 
persons  for  whom  the  latter  words  are  too  ordinary.    We  adopt  measures,  meth- 
ods, etc.;  we  begin,  open, establish  a  business  ;  we  inaugurate  Presidents.    (404.) 

15.  Initiate. — "Initiate  is  one  of  the  long,  pretentious  words  that  are  com- 
ing into  vogue  among  those  who  would  be  fine.     It  means  begin  ;  no  more,  no 
less."—  White.     (405.) 

16.  Militate  for  oppose,  contend,  '  to  be  at  variance  with ; '  as,  "  The  circum- 
stances militate  against  such  a  view  of  the  case." 

17.  Obnoxious  for  offensive. — Obnoxious  means  'liable'   or  'exposed  to 
harm,'  and  its  use  ( unknown  until  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century ) 
in  the  sense  of  "  offensive  "  should  be  avoided. 

18.  Observe  for  say. — The  primary  meaning  of  observe  is  to  keep  carefully, 
to  heed ;  as,  to  observe  the  Sabbath ;  but  the  word  is  sometimes  incorrectly 
used  in  the  sense  of  say.     (406.) 

19.  Paraphernalia. — This  big  word  from  the  Greek  is  often  misused  by 
people  who  do  not  understand  its  literal  meaning  and  who  might  better  say 
'  ornaments  '  or  '  trappings'  instead.     (407.) 

20.  Partake  for  eat. — Partake  means  literally  '  to  take  a  part,'  and  while  it 
has  its  proper  use  it  is  too  often  misused  for  the  simple  word  eat ;  as,  "He  par- 
took of  his  breakfast  in  silence." 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  148 

21.  Perambulate  for  walk  or  stroll. — Those  who  have  a  fondness  for  big 
words  to   express  little  ideas  speak  of  "perambulating  the  streets,"  or  "  per- 
ambulating through  the  park,"  when  they  mean  "  walking,"  or  "  strolling." 

22.  Predicate  for  found  or  base. — Predicate  as  a  verb  means  '  to  speak  be- 
fore,' hence,  'to  assert,'  '  to  declare  ; '  but  some  persons  with  an  affectation  to 
learning  have  used  it  in  the  sense  of  base  or  found ;  as,  "  What  action  shall  we 
predicate  upon  the  statements  made  by  the  committee?  "     (408.) 

23.  Proposition  for  offer  or  proposal. — A  proposal  is  something  offered  to 
be  done.     The  use  of  proposition  to  signify  '  proposal '  or  '  offer '  is  unnecessary, 
and  its  use  in  that  sense  in  commercial  affairs  doubtless  grew  out  of  the  tendency 
to  use  high-sounding  terms  where  small  terms  would  do  just  as  well.     Propo- 
sition has  its  other  legitimate  meanings,  to  which  it  should  be  confined. 

24.  Remunerate,  Reimburse. — The  primary  meaning  of  remunerate  is '  to 
pay,'  '  to  reward ; '  that  of  reimburse  is  '  to  pay  back,'  '  to  restore.'    Persons  who 
do  not  know  the  difference  between  the  two  words  but  insist  upon  using  "  big 
words  for  little  ideas  "  are  liable  to  get  them  ridiculously  mixed.     We  remuner- 
ate ( pay  or  reward )  a  man  for  services  rendered,  and  we  may  say  of  a  man's 
business  that  it  is  remunerative — one  that  pays  well.     A  bankrupt's  assets  may 
partly  reimburse  his  creditors ;  or  we  may  reimburse  a  man  for  expenses  he  has 
incurred  in  doing  business  for  us  ;  that  is,  we  pay  back  to  him  the  sum  he  has 
paid  out  for  us. 

25.  Retire. — Retire  has  a  clear  meaning  and  well  defined  uses,  not  one  of 
which  is  in  the  sense  of  going  to  bed.     "  If  you  are  going  to  bed,  say  so,  should 
there  be  occasion  ;  don't  talk  about  retiring  unless  you  would  seem  like  a  prig 
or  prurient  prude." —  Words  and  Their  Uses. 

26.  Transpire  for  happen  or  take  place. — Probably  no  more  striking  per- 
version of  a  word  from  its  true  meaning  can  be  found  than  that  of  transpire, 
when  used  in  the  sense  of  '  happen,'  'occur,'  '  take  place.'    The  real  meaning 
of  the  word  is  become  known  ;  or  it  may  be  expressed  by  the  phrase  "  leak  out." 
Mr.  White,  in  Words  and  Their  Uses,  gives  the  following  test  of  the  correct  lise 
of  transpire:  "  If  the  phrase  take  place  can  be  substituted  for  it  and  the  intended 
meaning  of  the  sentence  is  preserved,  its  use  is  unquestionably  wrong ;  if  the 
other  colloquial  phrase  leak  out  [  become  known  ]  can  be  put  in  its  place,  its  use 
is  correct." 

27.  Witness  for  see  or  behold,  etc. — The  use  of  witness  in  the  sense  of  "  see  " 
is  wholly  unnecessary  and  without  excuse.     Witness  as  a  verb  has  its  well  estab- 
lished and  legitimate  use  in  the  sense  of  attest,  or  bear  testimony  from  personal 
knowledge.     Hence  we  speak  of  witnessing  a  deed  or  other  writing,  of  being  an 
eye  witness,  and  of  witnessing  ( testifying )  in  a  case  in  court ;  but  we  should 
not  talk  of  having  '  witnessed*  a  game  of  ball,  of  *  witnessing  '  ( seeing,  or  be- 
holding, )  a  sad  sight,  unless  we  wish  to  appear  affected. 


144  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 


COUNTERFEIT  WORDS. 

278.  i.  Anyways.— The  s  of  this  word  is  incorrectly  added,  as  it  is  in 
anywheres,  everyways,  noways,  nowheres,  everywheres,  backwards,  forwards, 
towards,  upwards,  downwards,  afterwards,  homewards,  &c.,  all  of  which  should 
be  written  without  the  s.  (723.)  Likewise,  the  si  in  amidst,  amongst,  whilst, 
is  superfluous.  [  See  409-10.  ] 

2.  Authoress ;  also  doctress,  editress,  poetess,  &c.     As  well  might  we  say 
writeress,  singeress,  lawyeress,  as  authoress,  etc.      A  poet  is  one  who  writes 
poetry;   an   editor,  one   who   edits — not  a  man  who  edits,  but  a  person   who 
edits.     Edward  S.  Gould  ("Good  English")   says  of  the  words   "authoress" 
and  "  poetess : '      *'  They  are  philological  absurdities,  because  they  are  fabricated 
on  the  false  assumption  that  their  primaries  indicate  men."    [See  361.] 

3.  Agriculturalist. — This  word  should  be  agriculturist,  just  as  we  speak 
of  a  chemist,  a  geologist,  not  of  a  chemicalist,  a  geologicalist. 

4.  Casuality. — The  proper  form  is  casualty. 

5.  Conversationalist. — This  word  should  be  converser  or  conversationist; 
but  most  persons  give  it  the  unnecessary  and  incorrect  syllable  al,  just  as  they 
do  agriculturist. 

6.  Controversialist. — This  word  is  a  counterfeit  of  the  same  stamp  as  con- 
versationalist, being  incorrectly  formed  from  the  adjective  when  it  should  have 
been  formed  upon  the  verb  controvert.    The  legitimate  form  is  controverter 
or  controvertist. 

7.  Direful. — We  hear  of  "direful   results,"   "a  direful  calamity,"  and  so 
forth.    Adjectives  ending  in  ful  are  formed  by  suffixing  the  adjective  full  to 
nouns.     Such  adjectives  are  said  to  be  "  self-defining."    Their  strict  meaning 
is   obtained  by  transposing  the   parts  and  placing  of  between   them ;   thus, 
beautiful — 'full  of  beauty;'  merciful — 'full  of  mercy;'  or,  in  their  common 
meaning,  '  possessing  beauty,'  '  having  mercy.'     But  there  is  no  such  noun  as 
dire.    How  then  can  we  have  direful  ?— '  full  of  (or  possessing)  dire!'    Of 
course,  direfully  (adv.)  also  is  spurious.    Dreadful,  terrible,  and  woeful,  express 
the  idea  intended  by  direful. 

8.  Donate.— Webster  calls  attention  to  the  use  of  this  word  as  being  "  of 
recent  origin."    It  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  poor  substitute  for  give,  present,  etc. 

9.  Electrocuted.— Executed,  in  the   sense  of  'put  to  death,'   'hanged,' 
'beheaded,'  'shot,*  is  bad;  but  what  shall  we  say  of  the  absurd  electrocuted 
which  we  are  beginning  to  see  in  print  ?    It  has  been  erroneously  formed  on  the 
assumption  that  the  cute  in  execute  means  '  to  kill,'  which  it  does  not.    It  is 
from  sequi,  meaning  '  to  follow.' 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  145 

10.  Enthused. — Some  persons  talk  of  being  enthused  over  a  matter,  meaning 
that  they  are  aroused,  stirred,  excited,  or  inspired.     This  word  was  doubtless 
obtained,  as  Mr.  White  says,  "  by  the  backward  process  of  making  some  kind  of 
verb  from  the  noun  enthusiasm,  as  donate  was  formed  from  donation" — a  pro- 
cess of  derivation  (if  such  it  may  be  called)  that  is  contrary  to  the  laws   of 
growth  and  development  of  language. 

11.  Fellowship,  Disfellowship,  as  verbs. — Example:  An  attempt  to  dis- 
fellowship  an  evil  but  to  fellowship  the  evil  doer.      Nouns  ending  with  ship 
express  a  condition  or  state;  as,  guardianship,  authorship;  and  so,  fellowship, 
meaning  a  condition  or  state  of  those  who  are  associates  or  fellows,  or  who 
fellow  with  each  other  {fellow  being  an  allowable  verb).     It  would  be  just  as 
reasonable  to  say  of  two  queens  that  they  will  not  queenship  with  each  other,  or 
that  two  senators  will  not  senatorship  with  each  other,  as  to  say  of  two  persons 
that  they  will  not  fellowship  with  each  other.    What  is  meant  is  that  they  will 
not  associate  with  each  other. 

12.  Firstly. — Why  firstly  any  more  than  eighth/j/,  tenth/y,  and  so  forth? 
Webster  says  of firstly,  "  Incorrectly  used  for  first" 

13.  Gent  and  Pants. — Gent  is  a  vulgar  contraction  of  gentleman.    Pant, 
as  a  verb,  means  '  to  breathe  quickly,'  '  to  gasp;'  as  a  noun,  it  means  '  a  catching 
of  the  breath,'  '  a  gasp.'    Yet  we  see  such  signs  as  "  Pants  for  sale,"  "  Pants  made 
to   order."     One  who   understands   the  legitimate  meaning  of  the  word  can 
hardly  refrain  from  asking  "How  much  a. pant?"    To  say  the  least,  these  two 
words  are  poor  substitutes  for  the  genteel  gentleman  and  pantaloons.     (411.) 

14.  Hydropathy,  Electropathy. — These  are  monstrous  absurdities  gotten 
up  by  some  one  who  wanted  something  more  high-sounding  than  water-cure 
and  electric-cure,  which  they  are  supposed  to  mean  but  which  they  do  not 
mean.     Hydro  means  '  water ' ;  pathy  is  from  a  Greek  word  which  means  *  suffer- 
ing '  or  '  disease ' ;  and  so  hydropathy  literally  means  "  water  disease "  and 
electropathy,  correctly  rendered,  is  "  electric  disease." 

15.  Ice-water,  Ice-cream. — It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  in  print,  or  to  hear 
the  compound  "  iced-tea,"  which  is  the  correct  form,  meaning  tea  that  has  been 
made  cold  by  the  use  of  ice.    We  should,  for  the  same  reason,  say  iced-water, 
instead  of  "  ice-water,"  since  we  do  not  really  mean  water  made  from  ice.     Nor 
does  "  ice-cream"  mean  cream  made  from  ice ;  hence  it  is  properly  iced-cream. 
"  Strictly  iced-water,  iced-cream." — Century  Dictionary. 

16.  Intercessed. — Persons  who  say  they  have  been  intercessed  to  do  so  and 
so  mean  that  they  have  been  entreated  or  urged.    There  is  a  noun  intercession, 
and  a  verb  intercede,  which  means  '  to  go  between,'  but  there  is  no  such  verb 
as  intercess  from  which  the  participle  intercessed  may  be  formed. 

17.  Intercessionate.— '  To  intercede  with.'      [Rare.]— Century  Dictionary. 
Let  us  hope  that  it  may  continue  to  be  "  rare." 


146  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

279.  I.  Jeopardize. — This  word  is  improperly  used  for  the  verb  jeopard, 
the  suffix  ize  being  incorrectly  added.  A  similar  error  has  been  made  in  the 
formation  of  experimentalize,  which  also  is  a  counterfeit.  (410.) 

2.  Leniency. — There  is  properly  no  such  word  as  this.     It  has  been  ignor- 
antly  used  in  place  of  lenity. 

3.  Practitioneer. — From  the  verb  practice,  we  may  and  do  have  the  noun 
practicer  (or  practiser),  but  there  is  no  excuse  for  such  a  pretender  as  prac- 
titioneer. 

4.  Presidential. — As    well    might  we    say  parential,   governmental,  as 
presidential.  •  Adjectives  in  ial  are  formed  from  nouns  in  ce  ;  as,  official,  com- 
mercial, etc. ;  but  the  regular  way  of  forming  adjectives  from  nouns  ending  in 
ent  is  to  add  simply  at ;  as,  parental,  governmental,  incidental,  and  hence,  presi- 
dental.     "  The  proper  form  would  be  presidental." — Century  Dictionary. 

5.  Preventative. — The  correct  form  is  preventive. 

6.  Proven. — Prove  is   a  "  regular "  verb,  and  hence  its   past  and  perfect 
participle  forms  are  made  by  adding  d;  but  proven  is  as  base  a  coin  as  loven 
would  be ;  as,  .for  example,  "  Ephraim  has  proven  that  he  has  loven  Susanna 
all  the  time." 

7.  Resurrect,  Resurrected. — The  use  of  this  word  as  a  transitive  verb 
should  be  avoided  by  all  who  love  purity  of  speech.     It  is  a  sacrilegious  distor- 
tion of  the  idea  of  resurrection.    Resurrection  is  a  noun  meaning  '  rising  again  ' 
— rising  from  the  dead.     There  is  no  such  verb  as  resurrect,  and  to  make  one 
by  backward  process  from  the  noun  resurrection  is  of  a  piece  with  donate  from 
donation,  and  intercess  from  intercession.    This  trio  of  intruders  should  keep 
company  with  one  another  in  banishment. 

8.  Stand-point. — Compounds  made  by  the  union  of  a  noun  with  a  noun,  or 
a  participle  with  a  noun,  are  "  self-defining ;  "    that  is,  their  meaning  may  be 
expressed  by  reversing  the  order  of  the  parts  and  placing  of  or  for  between 
them.    Thus,  house-top,  '  top  of  house  ; '  bread-knife, '  knife  for  bread ; '  sewing- 
machine,  '  machine  for  sewing  ; '  landing-place,  '  place  of,  or  for,  landing.'    But 
how  about  stand-point?    '  Point  of,  or  for,  stand '  does  not  make  sense.     Stand- 
ing-point is  a  point  of,  or  for,  standing  ; '  but  this  is  not  what  is  meant  by  stand- 
point.   The  phrase  point  of  view  is  the  correct  expression.     Those  who  will 
insist  on  one  word  for  convenience'  sake  might  use  view-point.     (656.) 

9.  Underhanded. — "  He  did  it  in  an  underhanded  way."      There  being  no 
verb  or  noun  underhand,  how  can  we  have  the  participially  formed  adjective, 
underhanded?    [See682  and  693.]     Underhand  is  a  good  adjective,  formed  by 
prefixing  under  to  the  noun  hand.. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  147 


CLEARNESS  AND  FORCE. 

280.  Objects  of  Speech. — In  using  language,  whether  by  tongue 
or  pen,  we  should  have  two  objects  in  view: 

1.  Speaking  to  express  our  thoughts; 

2.  Speaking  to  impress  our  thoughts. 

In  other  words,  our  speech  should  be  :  i.  Clear, — easily  under- 
stood;  2.  Forcible, — impressive.  If  we  have  thoughts  that  are 
worth  expressing,  they  should  be  expressed  in  language  that  has 
these  two  qualities,  clearness  and  force.  Of  the  two,  clearness  is 
the  more  important,  since  language  cannot  be  forcible  unless  it  is 
first  clear  in  meaning.  The  opposite  of  clearness  is  obscurity. 
Obscure  language  is  always  weak, — the  opposite  of  forcible. 

Ambiguity  is  another  thing  that  is  opposed  to  clearness.  An 
ambiguous  sentence  is  one  whose  meaning  is  uncertain,  because 
it  may  be  construed  to  mean  either  of  two  things. 

281.  Causes  of  Obscurity. — The  principal  causes  of  obscurity 
are:     i.    Misplaced  words,  phrases  and  clauses;    2.   Ambiguous 
use   of  pronouns ;    3.    Unnecessary   words ;    4.  Long   sentences ; 
5.  Misuse  of  words ;  6.  Incorrect  punctuation. 

282.  Misplaced   Words. — When  a  word  is  so  placed  that  its 
meaning   may  be  taken  in    either  of  two  ways,  its  position  is 
faulty.     A  general  rule  is  that  words  should  be  placed  so  that 
their  meaning  cannot  be  mistaken. 

In  Latin  and  other  inflected  languages — the  German,  French,  etc., — the  form 
of  the  word  indicates  its  use  in  the  sentence,  and  a  change  in  the  position  or 
order  of  the  words  does  not  affect  the  meaning.  But  in  Bnglish,  which  has  al- 
most no  words  whose  forms  indicate  their  use,  we  must  depend  upon  the  posi- 
tion of  a  word  in  a  sentence.  A  single  misplaced  word  may  change  the  meaning 
of  the  entire  sentence  or  make  it  ambiguous, — uncertain  in  meaning.  In  Latin, 
iheform  of  words  is  everything;  in  English,  the  order  of  words  is  the  principal 
thing.  The  Latin  sentence  is  constructed  on  true  grammatical  principles  j  the 
Bnglish  sentence,  on  logical  principles. 


148  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

283.  Adverbs. — The  words  most  likely  to  cause  obscurity  by  be- 
ing misplaced  are  adverbs.  Of  these,  only,  not  only,  alone,  always, 
too,  nearly,  merely,  mostly,  and  chiefly  are  the  most  troublesome. 
Probably  no  word  in  common  use  is  so  difficult  to  handle  as  only. 
As  a  rule,  an  adverb  should  stand  next  the  word  it  modifies, 
usually  just  before  it. 

Tell  what  idea  is  conveyed  by  the  italicized  word  in  each  of  the 
following  sentences ;  then  change  the  position  of  the  adverb  so 
as  to  express  the  meaning  intended,  as  shown  by  the  co-ordinate 
construction : 

1.  I  saw  him  only;  I  did  not  speak  to  him. 

2.  I  have  escaped  alone;  no  one  else  escaped. 

3.  I  merely  spoke  of  figures ;  I  did  not  speak  of  letters. 

4.  The  natives  chiefly  live  on  rice ;  they  eat  scarcely  anything  else. 

5.  We  only  tried  the  last  one ;  we  did  not  try  the  others. 

6.  He  not  only  makes  shoes,  but  boots  also. 

7.  All  men  are  not  to  be  trusted,  for  some  are  dishonest. 

8.  They  will,  too,  not  merely  interest  children,  but  grown-up  persons. 

9.  Thales  was  not  only  famous  for  his  knowledge  of  nature,  but  for  his 
moral  wisdom. 

10.  By  greatness,  I  do  not  only  mean  the  bulk  of  any  single  object,  but  the 
largeness  of  a  whole  view. — Addison. 

11.  The  result  is  not  pleasant  to  us  only  because  it  fulfills  our  predictions, 
but  because  any  other  would  have  been  productive  of  mischief. — Spectator. 

Quiii  tiliaii's  Rule:  "Care  should  be  taken,  not  that  the  hearer  may 
understand,  but  that  he  must  understand,  whether  he  will  or  not." 

(  a  )  Change  the  position  of  the  italicised  words  in  the  following 
sentences,  and  tell  how  the  meaning  is  affected  by  the  change. 
See  how  many  different  meanings  can  be  conveyed  by  the  same 
word  in  different  positions. 

1.  I  am  almost  ready  to  believe  that  they  are  all  dunces. 

2.  I  then  understood  why  you  did  not  go. 

3.  He  stopped  asking  questions  abruptly  and  left  the  room. 

4.  I  have  wondered  often  how  it  was  done. 

5.  Only  yesterday  we  received  an  order  for  fifty  of  this  kind. 

6.  The  heavens  are  open  to  the  faithful  only  at  intervals. 

7.  These  will  raise  a  man  above  any  disappointments,  and,  by  leading  him 
only  to  feed  his  heart  upon  expectations  which  are  likely  to  be  realized,  will  do 
very  much  towards  making  him  rejoice  evermore. — fox. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  149 

284.  Adjectives. — Change  the  position  of  the  italicised  words 
in  the  following,  and  tell  how  the  meaning  is  affected  by  the 
change.     If  necessary,  introduce  a  preposition  to  improve   the 
expression : 

i.  It  was  a  black  man's  hat.  2.  Fine  lady's  handkerchiefs  for  sale.  3.  Ele- 
gant children's  suits  at  low  prices.  4.  He  found  a  gold  gentleman's  watch. 
5.  We  sell  ready-made  gentlemen's  overcoats  very  cheap.  6.  A  large  stock  of 
plush  ladies'  card  cases  just  received.  7.  Copper-toed  children's  shoes  wear 
best.  8.  Steel  boy's  skates  for  Christmas  presents. 

Remark :  Descriptive  words  misplaced  in  this  way  do  not  often  obscure  the 
meaning,  as  in  the  first  sentence  above,  but  they  weaken  the  expression  by 
making  it  ludicrous. 

(a)  Comparative  adjectives,  such  as  larger,  better,  clearer,  and 
contrasting  adjectives,  such  as  different  and  other,  are  often  un- 
necessarily  separated  from  their  correlative  words. 

Examples :    Yours  is  a  different  view  of  the  matter  from  mine. 
His  was  a  clearer  statement  of  the  case  than  any  I  had  heard. 

While  in  such^.  cases  the  meaning  is,  no  doubt,  clear  enough, 
the  sentences  are  smoother  and  more  forcible  if  written  thus : 

Your  view  of  the  matter  is  different  from  mine. 

His  statement  of  the  case  was  clearer  than  any  I  had  heard. 

Improve  the  following  sentences  in  the  same  way : 

1.  This  is  a  larger  tract  of  land  than  I  had  supposed. 

2.  We  could  take  no  other  course  with  him  than  the  one  we  took. 

3.  They  can  accomplish  more  by  working  together  than  separately. 

4.  These  are  similar  letters  to  the  one  I  received  from  him. 

5.  This  is  a  different  course  of  proceeding  from  what  we  expected. 

6.  That  is  a  much  better  statement  of  the  case  than  yours. 

7.  The  majority  of  persons  are  better  educated  in  these  days  than  people 
were  then. 

285.  Position  of  Phrases  and  Clauses. — As  with  words,  so  with 
phrases  and  clauses.     They  should  be  so  placed  that  their  mean- 
ing cannot  be  misunderstood. 

Under  this  head  may  be  considered  two  classes  of  errors: 
i.  What  are  known  as  "squinting  constructions;"  2.  Incongru- 
ous arrangement  of  phrases  and  clauses. 


150  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

286.  Squinting  Constructions. — This  is  one  of  the  worst  forms 
of  obscurity,  and  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  avoid.     It  consists 
in  throwing  a  word,  phrase,  or  clause  into  a  sentence  so  that  it 
seems  to  look  both  ways ;  that  is,  it  may  be  taken  as  belonging 
either  to  what  goes  before  or  to  what  follows. 

Example :  When  I  hear  a  person  use  a  queer  expression,  or  pronounce  a 
name  in  reading  differently  from  his  neighbors,  etc. — Dean  Alford. 

In  this  sentence,  the  phrase  "  in  reading "  looks  two  ways.  It  may  be 
taken  as  meaning  "  pronounce  a  name  in  reading,"  or  "  in  reading  differently 
from  his  neighbors."  A  better  arrangement  is,  "When  I  hear  a  person  use 
a  queer  expression,  or,  in  reading,  pronounce  a  name  differently  from,"  etc. 

Point  out  the  "  squinting  "  construction  in  each  of  the  follow- 
ing sentences ;  then  re-construct  the  sentence  so  as  to  clear  it  of 
the  ambiguity : 

1.  And  thus  the  son  the  fervent  sire  addressed. 

2.  It  shames  man  not  to  feel  man's  human  fear. 

3.  Tell  him,  if  he  is  in  the  parlor,  I  do  not  care  to  see  him. 

4.  The  Romans  understood  liberty,  at  least,  as  well  as  we. 

5.  I  said  he  is  dishonest,  it  is  true,  and  I  am  sorry  for  it. 

6.  Are  these  designs  of  which  any  man  who  was  born  in  Britain,  in  any  cir- 
cumstances, ought  to  be  ashamed  ? 

7.  The  poor  little  child,  after  searching  from  one  end  of  the  market  to  the 
other,  for  a  penny,  at  last,  bought  an  apple. 

8.  Though  some  of  the  European  rulers  may  be  females,  when  spoken  of 
altogether,  they  may  be  correctly  classified  under  the  denomination  "  kings." 

9.  The  minister  who  grows  less  by  his  elevation,  like  a  statue  on  a  mighty 
pedestal,  will  always  have  his  jealousy  strong  about  him. — Bolingbroke. 

10.  Though  our  brother  is  upon  the  rack,  as  long  as  we  ourselves  are  at  ease, 
our  senses  will  never  inform  us  of  what  he  suffers. — Smith. 

11.  This  work  in  its  full  extent,  being  now  afflicted  with  an  asthma,  and  find- 
ing the  power  of  life  gradually  declining,  he  had  no  longer  courage  to  under- 
take.—-Johnson. 

12.  Since  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  a   perpetual  intercourse  of 
buying  and  selling,  and  dealing  upon  credit,  where  fraud  is  permitted  or  con- 
nived at,  or  hath  no  law  to  punish  it,  the  honest  dealer  is  always  undone,  and  the 
knave  gets  the  advantage.— Swift. 

287.  Incongruous  Arrangement. — Phrases  are  often  carelessly 
placed  in  such  a  way  that  while  they  do  not  obscure  the  meaning, 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  151 

they  make  the  language  inconsistent  or  ludicrous,  thus  detracting 
from  its  force.  Re-arrange  the  following  sentences  so  as  to  ex- 
press the  meaning  obviously  intended. 

1.  It  is  the  mind  which  does  the  work  of  the  world  after  all. 

2.  It  was  my  intention  to  begin  the  work  every  day  this  week. 

3.  A  charitable  lady  wishes  to  adopt  a  little  boy  with  a  small  family. 

4.  The  child  ran  and  screamed  the  moment  it  saw  the  dog,  trembling  from 
bead  to  foot. 

5.  We  could  see  the  ship  gliding  under  full  sail  through  a  spy-glass. 

6.  He  received  a  reward  for  his  bravery  and  the  praise  of  all. 

7.  Dr.  Hall  will  deliver  a  lecture  on  the  importance  of  taking  exercise  before 
breakfast  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

8.  Wanted : — A  room  for  a  single  gentleman  not  smaller  than  twelve  feet 
long  and  eight  feet  wide. 

9.  A  gentleman  will  let  his  house  going  abroad  for  the  summer  to  a  small 
family  containing  all  modern  improvements. 

10.  First  prize  to  be  given  to  the  best  lady  and  gentleman  waltzer,  consist- 
ing of  a  pair  of  solid  gold  bracelets  and  a  medal. 

11.  Second  prize  to  be  given  to  the  best  polka  couple,  consisting  of  a  pair  of 
opera  glasses  and  a  medal. 

12.  Passengers  are"  requested  to  purchase  tickets  before  entering  the  cars 
at  the  company's  office. 

13.  I  cannot  think  of  leaving  you  without  distress. 

14.  The  newspapers  recommended  that  a  meeting  be  called  of  the  citizens. 

15.  He  robbed  an  old  man  and  then  murdered  him  of  $700. 

16.  The  following  lines  were  written  by  a  gentleman  who  died  some  years 
ago  for  mere  amusement. 

17.  The  witness  was  ordered  to  withdraw  from  the  bar  in  consequence  of 
being  intoxicated  by  the  motion  of  an  honorable  member. 

18.  The  beaux  of  that  day  used  the  abominable  art  of  painting  their  faces 
as  well  as  the  women. 

19.  Wanted : — A  saddle  horse  for  a  lady,  weighing  about  900  pounds. 

20.  The  other  witness  was  a  man  with  one  eye  named  Robert  Welch. 

21.  A  man  was  killed  by  a  railroad  car  running  into  Boston  supposed  to  be 
deaf. 

22.  I  guarantee  to  sell  a  better  hat  than  any  competitor  for  less  money. 

23.  What  is  the  correct  journal  entry,  no  entry  having  been  made  of  the 
patent  on  the  books  ? 

24.  Merchants  are  too  liable  to  be  fined  if  found  selling  these  slunks  for 
violation  of  the  law. 

25.  An  editor  of  a  newspaper  says  :    "  We  have  received  a  basket  of  fine 
grapes  from  our  friend  Mr.  Wilson,  for  which  he  will  please  accept  our  compli- 
ments, some  of  which  are  nearly  two  inches  in  diameter." 


152  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

26.  The  undersigned  took  up  two  young  mares  four  or  five  years  old,  a  dark 
iron  gray,  one  having  a  wart  on  the  right  side  of  her  head  eight  miles  north  of 
Atlanta. 

27.  By  the  time  I  had  taken  five  bottles,  I  found  myself  completely  cured, 
after  having  been  brought  so  near  to  the  gate  of  death,  by  means  of  your  in- 
valuable medicine. 

28.  Rats  and  gentlemen  catched  and  waited  on  and  all  other  jobs  performed 
by  Solomon  Gundy. — Advertisement* 

I      Note.— The  last  sentence  belongs  to  a  class  of  errors  known  as   "  cross-constructions." 
•Similar  to  it  are  the  following  : 

29.  A  keen  eye  and  a  graphic  pen  see  and  set  down  for  us  the  characteristic 
details  of  both  scenery  and  manners. 

30.  All  goes  on  satisfactorily  at  Winchester,  the  attention  and  attendance,  I 
think,  gradually  deepening  and  increasing. 

31.  The  actual  gross  hypocrisy  of  the  Tartufee  and  the  Mawworm  is  abhored 
and  condemned  by  every  heart  and  tongue. 

32.  To  any  person  an  apology  might  be  necessary;  to  you  whose  friendship 
can  neither  be  heated  nor  cooled  by  correspondence  or  silence,  I  offer  none. 

288.  Pronouns.— Obscurity  often  results  from  carelessness  in 
the  use  of  pronouns,  particularly  the  personals,  he,  she,  they,  and  it. 

Examples:  The  boy  assured  his  father  that  he  was  perfectly  safe.  Mr.  Jones 
said  he  had  talked  with  Mr.  Brown  again  and  that  he  now  considered  his  plan 
impracticable. 

In  the  first  example,  it  is  not  clear  who  "was  perfectly  safe;"  while  in  the 
second,  it  is  uncertain  whose  "  plan  "  is  referred  to. 

In  such  cases,  the  obscurity  may  be  avoided  by  reporting  the  speech  in  the 
first  or  second  person,  or  by  repeating  the  name;  thus — 

The  boy  said  to  his  father,  "you  are  (or,  lam)  perfectly  safe."  Mr.  Jones 
said  that  he  had  talked  with  Mr.  Brown  again  and  that  he  now  considered  Mr. 
Brown's  (or,  the  latter's)  plan  impracticable. 

If,  however,  it  is  Mr.  Jones's  plan  that  is  referred  to,  a  repetition  of  the 
name  is  not  sufficient  to  make  the  sentence  clear ;  for  "  Mr.  Jones  said  that  he 
had  talked  with  Mr.  Brown  again,  and  that  Mr.  Brown  now  considered  his  plan 
impracticable,"  might  mean  that  Mr.  Brown  now  considered  his  own  plan  im- 
practicable, or  that  Mr.  Brown  now  considered  Mr.  Jones's  plan  impracticable. 
In  such  cases,  repeat  the  statement  in  the  second  person,  thus: — 

Mr.  Jones  said,  "  I  have  talked  with  Mr.  Brown  again  and  I  now  consider 
his  plan  impracticable;"  or,  "he  now  considers  my  plan  impracticable." 

(a)  Relative  pronouns  (with  the  clauses  introduced  by  them) 
are  often  misplaced.  In  some  cases,  the  effect  is  merely  an 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  153 

awkward  or  ludicrous  sentence  ;  but  in  others,  the  result  is  ob- 
scurity, the  antecedent  of  the  relative  being  uncertain. 

Examples :     Everybody  is  leaving  the  doomed  city  that  can  get  away. 

It  is  folly  to  pretend  to  arm  ourselves  against  the  accidents  of  life,  by  heap- 
ing up  treasures,  which  nothing  can  protect  us  against  but  the  good  providence 
of  our  Heavenly  Father. — Sherlock. 

In  the  first  example,  the  meaning  is  plain  enough,  but  the  logical  arrange- 
ment is,  "  Everybody  that  can  get  away  is  leaving  the  doomed  city."  In  the 
second  example,  the  antecedent  of  which  is  not  so  clear.  As  it  stands,  it  seems 
to  refer  to  treasures.  The  writer  meant,  however,  to  have  it  refer  to  accidents, 
and  the  arrangement  should  have  been,  "  It  is  folly  to  pretend,  by  heaping  up 
treasures,  to  arm  ourselves  against  the  accidents  of  life  which  nothing  can 
protect  us  against,"  etc.  Relative  clauses  should  be  so  placed  that  there  can  be 
no  doubt  as  to  what  is  the  antecedent  of  the  relative. 

Re-write  the  following  sentences,  so  as  to  clear  them  of  ob- 
scurity : 

1.  John  told  his  brother  that  he  thought  he  ought  to  help  him  all  he  could. 

2.  Mary  wrote  to  her  friend  that  her  mother  wanted  her  to  come  home. 

3.  The  intellectual  qualities  of  the  youth  were  superior    to  those  of  his 
raiment. 

4.  The  boy  promised  his  father  that  he  would  pay  his  debts. 

5.  The  farmer  went  to  his  neighbor  and  told  him  that  his  cattle  were  in'  his 
fields. 

6.  His  servant  being  sick,  he  consented  to  allow  his  brother,  a  timid  youth 
from  the  country,  to  take  his  place  for  a  short  time,  and  during  that  short  time 
he  was  a  constant  annoyance  to  him. 

7.  Did  you  return  that  book  to  the  library  which  I  loaned  you  ? 

8.  I  allude  to  the  article  BLJND  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  published 
at  Edinburgh  in  the  year  1783,  which  was  written  by  him. — Mackenzie. 

9.  Thus  I  have  fairly  given  you,  Sir,  my  own  opinion,  as  well  as  that  of  a 
great  majority  of  both  houses  here,  relating  to  this  weighty  affair,  upon  which 
I  am  confident  you  may  securely  reckon. — Swift. 

10.  From  a  habit  of  saving  time  and  paper,  which  they  acquired  at  the  uni- 
versity, they  write  in  so  diminutive  a  manner,  etc. — Swift. 

11.  Her  own  story  was  that  she  had  a  quarrel  with  the  deceased,  first  about 
her  wages,  and  secondly  about  the  soup,  and  that  she  seized  the  deceased  by 
the  throat,  and  she  fell,  and  when  she  got  up  she  was  looking  for  something  to 
strike  her  with,  and  upon  this  she  struck  the  deceased  a  blow  on  the  throat,  and 
she  fell,  and  died  almost  instantaneously. 

Unnecessary  Words. — As  a  rule,  whatever  does  not  add 


154  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

to  the  thought,  detracts  just  so  much  from  its  clearness  and  force. 
The  unnecessary  word  that  simply  does  not  add  to  the  sense  is 
said  to  be  redundant.  When  the  word  repeats  an  idea  in  the 
same  sentence,  the  repetition  is  called  tautology.  Redundant  and 
tautological  words  are  said  to  be  superfluous.  When  redundancy 
is  carried  to  an  extreme,  in  the  use  of  unnecessary  words  and 
phrases,  it  is  called  circumlocution.  Circumlocution  is  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  "  going  around  Robin  Hood's  barn  to  tell  a  thing." 

Redundancy  is  illustrated  by  the  following  sentence : 

They  returned  back  again  to  the  same  place  from  whence  they  came  forth. 

Tautology  is  illustrated  by  the  following : 

Public  interest  in  the  matter  was  universal  everywhere. 

And  the  following  is  a  sample  of  circumlocution : 

Pope  professed  to  have  learned  his  poetry  from  Dryden,  whom,  whenever  an 
opportunity  was  presented,  he  praised  through  the  whole  period  of  his  exist- 
ence with  unvaried  liberality;  and  perhaps  his  character  may  receive  some 
illustration  if  a  comparison  be  instituted  between  him  and  the  man  whose  pupil 
he  was. 

Professor  Bain  condenses  this  sentence  thus : 

"  Pope  professed  himself  the  pupil  of  Dryden,  who  he  lost  no  opportunity  in 
praising ;  and  his  character  may  be  illustrated  by  a  comparison  with  his  master." 

Note. — The  use  of  words  unnecessary  to  the  sense  is  sometimes  allowable  for 
the  sake  of  emphasis;  as,  "To  have  and  to  hold,  to  love  and  to  cherish."1  "O 
Absalom,  my  son,  my  son  !  "  "  They  worked  with  might  and  main." 

This  redundancy  of  words  for  effect  is  most  common  in  poetry. 

Example :    Alone,  alone,  all  alone, 

Alone  on  the  wide,  wide  sea. 

Re-write  the  following,  leaving  out  all  unnecessary  words : 

1.  The  paper  was  full  of  a  great  many  valuable  suggestions. 

2.  The  machines  are  just  exactly  alike  in  every  respect. 

3.  My  esteemed  and  respected  hearers,  I  am  aware  that  this  is  a  seeming 
paradox. 

4.  This  is  so  clear  a  proposition,  that  I  rest  the  whole  argument  entirely 
upon  it. 

5.  Never  did  Atticus  succeed  better  in  gaining  the  universal  love  and  esteem 
of  all  men. — Spectator. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  155 

6.  The  complication  of  the  old  laws  of  France  had  given  rise  to  a  chaos  of 
confusion. — Alison. 

7.  It  was  founded  mainly  on  the  entire  monopoly  of  the  whole  trade  with 
the  colonies. — Ib. 

8.  The  very  first  discovery  of  it  strikes  the  mind  with  inward  joy,  and 
spreads  delight  through  all  its  faculties. — Addison. 

9.  Of  the   vegetable   productions   of  foreign   countries,   there   is   none   of 
greater  value,  or  held  in  greater  estimation,  than  that  of  sugar. 

10.  I  do  not  trumpet  water  as  an  infallible  nostrum — as  a  universal  panacea 
for  all  the  ills  that  human  flesh  is  heir  to. — Blackie. 

11.  He  always  communicated  his  direction  with  clearness  and  in  the  most 
concise  terms,  yet  without  obscurity. — Godwin. 

12.  The  reason  why  Socrates  was  condemned  to  death  was  on  account  of  his 
unpopularity. — Times. 

13.  It  is  with  the  most  unfeigned  and  heartfelt  gratitude  that  I  appear  before 
this  enlightened  and  intelligent  audience  tonight,  to  thank  them,  as  I  do,  for 
the  kind  and  generous  sympathy  they  have  manifested  and  shown  in  favor  of 
the  cause  of  my  struggling  country. 

290.  Long  Sentences. — Long  sentences,  particularly  those  of 
extreme  length,  are  likely  to  be  obscure.  However,  obscurity  in 
this  direction  is^the  result,  not  so  much  of  putting  a  large  number 
of  words  into  a  sentence,  as  of  crowding  into  the  same  sentence 
things  that  have  but  little  connection  with  each  other,  and  which 
might  better  be  put  into  separate  sentences. 

Example  :  The  vessel  made  for  the  shore,  and  the  passengers  soon  crowded 
into  the  boats  and  reached  the  beach  in  safety,  where  the  inhabitants  received 
them  with  the  utmost  kindness,  and  a  shelter  was  provided  for  them. 

The  thoughts  here  are  much  clearer  when  put  into  two  sen- 
tences, thus : 

The  vessel  made  for  the  shore,  and  the  passengers  crowding  into  the  boats 
soon  reached  the  beach  in  safety.  They  were  received  with  the  utmost  kindness 
by  the  inhabitants  who  provided  a  shelter  for  them. 

Long  sentences  often  result  from  hanging  one  relative  clause 
upon  another,  and  not  unfrequently  the  effect  is  ludicrous. 

Bxample  :  As  we  rode  to  town  we  met  a  man  with  a  flock  of  geese,  who  was 
talking  to  a  little  girl  in  a  pink  sun-bonnet,  who  was  carrying  a  basket  on  her 
arm,  which  contained  a  few  eggs  which  she  was  taking  to  market. 


1W  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

This  sentence  may  be  cleared  of  its  obscurity  and  absurdity  by 
re-arranging  it  as  follows : 

As  we  rode  to  town  we  met  a  man  with  a  flock  of  geese.  He  was  talking  to 
a  little  girl  in  a  pink  sun-bonnet.  The  girl  was  carrying  on  her  arm  a  basket 
containing  a  few  eggs,  which  she  was  taking  to  market. 

As  to  the  proper  length  for  sentences,  no  rule  can  be  given.  It  is  not  always 
possible  to  make  our  sentences  short ;  nor  would  it  be  advisable  to  do  so  if  we 
could.  When  several  short  sentences  occur  together,  they  have,  by  reason  of 
the  frequent  full  stops  at  periods,  an  unpleasant  effect  on  the  mind  of  the 
reader  or  listener.  The  best  way  is  to  have  a  mixture  of  short  and  long  sen- 
tences,— the  short  ones  predominating,  and  the  long  ones  not  too  long  to  be 
clear.  Macaulay's  sentences  are  models  in  this  respect,  and  young  writers 
would  do  well  to  give  considerable  time  to  the  study  of  his  writings.  The  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  an  essay  on  the  trial  of  Warren  Hastings  illustrate 
Macaulay's  style : 

The  place  was  worthy  of  such  a  trial.  It  was  the  great  hall  of  William  Rufus  ;  the  hall 
which  had  resounded  with  the  inauguration  of  thirty  kings  ;  the  hall  which  had  witnessed  the 
just  sentence  of  Bacon  and  the  just  absolution  of  Somers ;  the  hall  where  the  eloquence  of 
Strafford  had  for  a  moment  awed  and  melted  a  victorious  party  inflamed  with  just  resentment ; 
the  hall  where  Charles  had  confronted  the  High  Court  of  Justice  with  the  placid  courage  which 
has  half  redeemed  his  fame.  Neither  military  nor  civil  pomp  was  wanting.  The  avenues  were 
lined  with  grenadiers.  The  streets  were  kept  clear  by  cavalry.  The  peers,  robed  in  gold  and 
ermine,  were  marshalled  by  the  heralds  under  Garter-King-at-Arms.  The  judges,  in  their 
vestments  of  state,  attended  to  give  advice  on  points  of  law.  . 

The  Sergeants  made  proclamation.  Hastings  advanced  to  the  bar,  and  bent  his  knee.  The 
culprit  was  indeed  not  unworthy  of  that  great  presence.  He  had  ruled  an  extensive  and  popu- 
lous country,  had  made  laws  and  treaties,  had  sent  forth  armies,  had  set  up  and  pulled  down 
princes.  And  in  his  high  place  he  had  so  borne  himself,  that  all  had  feared  him,  that  most  had 
loved  him,  and  that  hatred  itself  could  deny  him  no  title  to  glory,  except  virtue.  He  looked 
like  a  great  man,  and  not  like  a  bad  man. 

291.  Misused  Words. — An  eminent  writer  has  said:  "In 
speaking  or  writing  English,  we  have  only  to  choose  the  right 
word  and  put  it  in  the  right  place."  We  have  seen  that  the  right 
word  in  the  wrong  place  may  make  the  sentence  ambiguous  or 
cause  it  to  say  what  the  writer  does  not  intend.  Now  the  right 
word  is  often  as  important  as  the  right  place;  for  obscurity  may 
be  caused  by  using  the  wrong  word  in  the  right  place.  To 
illustrate  this,  take  the  word  want,  so  commonly  misused  in  the 
sense  of  ought  or  needs.  Thus — 

George  wants  to  leave  his  work  for  a  while  and  take  a  rest. 
In  this  sentence,  wants  expresses  a  desire  on  George's  part,  whereas  the 
writer  meant,  "  George  ought  ( or  needs )    to  leave  his  work  " — etc.   And  so 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  157 

"  You  want  to  behave,"  "  They  want  to  come  pretty  soon,*'  "  He  wants  to  mind 
his  own  business,"  are  either  ludicrous  or  ambiguous  in  meaning. 

292.  Big1  Words. — Most  of  the  errors  in  the  use  of  words  result  from  a 
very  common  disposition  to  use  "  big  words  for  little  ideas  ;  "  to  use  fine-sound- 
ing terms  regardless,  of  their  meaning.     Persons  who  are  self-conscious  about 
their  language,  and  those  who  effect  to  know  more  than  they  do,  are  especially 
liable  to  fall  into  this  habit.     They  have  an  erroneous  notion  that  big  words 
sound  learned,  when,  in   reality,  the   opposite  is  true.     With  such  a  person,  a 
hired  girl  is  not  a  servant  but  a  "  domestic  ; "  a  school  is  an  "  institution  ;  "  an 
oyster  is  a  "  bivalve ; "  a  person  does  not  recover  his  health  but  "  recuperates ;  '* 
and  so  forth.     A  woman  who  has  this  false  idea  of  elegance  in  language  does 
not  tell  us  she  is  sorry  she  cannot  come  to  see  us,  but  she  "  regrets  that  the 
multiplicity  of  her  engagements  precludes  her  from  accepting  our  polite  invi- 
tation."   If  the  persons  who  talk  in  this  way  could  but  know  how  ridiculous 
they  often  make  themselves,  their  knowledge  of  the  fact  might  lead  them  to 
talk  as  sensible  people  ought. 

The  importance  of  using  plain  English  words  is  illustrated  by  the  following 
story  of  Benjamin  Franklin : 

"  When  Franklin  was  a  boy  he  thought  it  fine  to  use  long  words,  and  one  day  told  his  father 
that  he  had  swallowed  some  acephalous  molluscs,  which  so  alarmed  him  that  he  shrieked  for 
help.  The  mother  came  in  with  warm  water,  and  they  forced  half-a-gallon  down  Benjamin's 
throat  with  the  garden  pump,  then  held  him  upside  down,  the  father  saying,  "  If  we  don't  get 
those  things  out  of  Bendy,  he'll  be  poisoned  sure."  When  Benjamin  was  allowed  to  get  his 
breath,  he  explained  that  the  articles  referred,  to  were  oysters.  His  father  was  so  enraged  that 
he  beat  him  an  hour  for  frightening  the  family.  Franklin  never  afterward  used  a  word  of  two 
syllables  when  one  would  do." 

Newspapers  are  the  worst  offenders  in  the  matter  of  using  high-sounding 
terms.  A  fifth-rate  newspaper  seems  incapable  of  telling  us  in  plain  English 
that  persons  go  to  their  homes,  but  must  say  that  "  individuals  proceed  to  their 
residences  ;  "  houses  are  not  burned,  but  "  edifices  are  consumed  by  the  devour- 
ing element;"  the  fire  was  not  put  out,  but  the  "conflagration  was  extin- 
guished ; "  murderers  are  not  hung,  but  the  "  victims  of  unbridled  passions  are 
launched  into  eternity ;  "  a  firm  does  not  adopt  a  new  method  of  handling  the 
details  of  its  business,  but  it  "  inaugurates  a  new  regime  for  transacting  the 
multifarious  minutiae  of  the  enterprise." 

The  Twenty-third  Psalm  ( than  which  there  is  no  better  example  of  pure  and 
simple  English )  translated  into  this  inflated  newspaper  style  would  read  as 
follows : 

"Jehovah  is  my  pastor;  I  shall  not  be  indigent.  He  constraineth  me  to  re- 
cline in  verdant  fields;  he  conducteth  me  in  proximity  to  the  unrippled 
liquidities,"  etc. 

293.  Cant. — Swift  says :    "  To  introduce  and  multiply  cant  words  is  the 
most  ruinous  corruption  in  any  language." 


158  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

Cant  is  the  use  of  words  and  phrases  by  the  people  of  a  sect,  trade,  or  profession,  in  a  man- 
ner peculiar  to  themselves.  It  includes  the  use  of  words  in  a  way  so  different  from  their  com- 
mon and  general  usage  that  to  a  person  outside  the  business  or  profession  in  which  they  are  so 
used  they  sound  absurd  and  may  obscure  the  meaning.  The  habit  of  using  cant  expressions  is 
one  into  which  we  are  all  more  or  less  liable  to  fall.  Through  the  newspapers,  the  cant  of  the 
various  trades  and  professions  receives  a  wide  circulation  and  a  tacit  sanction.  Through  them, 
also,  too  much  of  the  slang  of  the  sporting  world  and  the  stage  is  put  into  the  mouths  of  those 
who  at  best  are  not  very  particular  about  their  speech.  Persons  who,  ordinarily,  are  careful 
about  their  language,  see  and  hear  these  cant  and  slang  expressions  until  they  begin  almost 
unconsciously  to  adopt  them. 

The  following  are  common  cant  expressions  in  the  commercial  world  of  today : 
Line.    "  We  have  the  finest  line  of  winter  goods  ever  seen  in  this  city." 
Closing  Out.    "  We  are  closing  out  our  entire  stock  at  rock-bottom  prices." 
Please  find.    "  Please  find  enclosed  our  check  for  the  balance  due  you." 
We  beg.     "  We  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  iQth  inst." 

A  very  common  sort  of  cant  is  the  use  of  descriptive  adjectives  as  nouns. 
The  grocery-keeper  offers  us  "  Jersey  sweets  at  25  cents  a  peck,"  by  which  he 
means  'Jersey  sweet  potatoes,'  not  molasses,  sugar,  and  candy.  The  dry-goods 
merchant  advertises  his  "  domestics  "  at  so  much  a  yard,  meaning  '  domestic 
goods,'  not  his  servants. 

294.  Punctuation. — As  a  rule,  we  should    not  depend  upon 
marks  of  punctuation  to  make  our  meaning  clear,  but  should  aim 
to  secure  clearness  independent  of  these  mechanical  aids.     How- 
ever, in  many  cases,  correct  punctuation  will  help  to  make  clear 
an  otherwise  obscure  sentence,  while  incorrect  punctuation  may 
not  only  cause  obscurity  but  in  many  instances  give  an  absurd  or 
erroneous  interpretation  to  the  language.     For  illustrations  on 
this  point,  see  page  176. 

295.  Brevity. — In  the  preceding  paragraphs,  Clearness   and 
Force  have  been  studied  negatively ;  that  is,  we  have  considered 
those  things  which  cause  obscurity  and  which  must  be  avoided 
to  get  clearness.     Under  the  head  of  Brevity,  we  shall  study  the 
positive  side  of  the  subject. 

Brevity  is  not  merely  an  absence  of  circumlocution ;  it  is  the  opposite  of 
circumlocution.  To  leave  off  all  redundant  words  is  only  comparative  brevity. 
Absolute  brevit)*-  goes  farther  than  that.  A  sentence  in  which  there  are  no 
really  redundant  words  may  be  abbreviated  and  thus  made  more  forcible  with- 
out losing  any  of  its  clearness.  This  abbreviation  is  accomplished  in  two 
ways  :  I.  By  ellipsis ;  2.  By  abridgment. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  159 

296.  Ellipsis. — Ellipsis  is  the  omission  of  such  words  as  will 
be  clearly  understood  and  which  must  be  supplied  when  it  comes 
to  analyzing  the  sentence.     The  following  are  the  more  common 
ways  of  shortening  sentences  by  ellipsis : 

1.  Omitting  the  conjunctions  from  a  series  of  words,  phrases,  or  clauses,  of 
the  same  kind.     Thus,  "I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered,"  is  just  as  clear  and  far 
more  forcible  than  "  I  came,  and  I  saw,  and  I  conquered." 

[For  further  examples,  and  for  punctuation,  see  Rule  2  for  the  comma,  393.  ] 

2.  By  omitting  the  subject  from  each,  except  the  first,  of  a  series  of  assertions 
about  the  same  person  or  thing,  at  the  same  time  omitting  the  conjunctions. 

Examples :  Charles  went  to  Washington,  transacted  the  business  for  his 
father,  visited  the  Capitol,  White  House,  and  other  places  of  interest,  and  re- 
turned within  the  week. 

3.  By  omitting  the  verb  from  each,  except  the  first,  of  a  series  of  co-ordinate 
clauses  in  which  the  same  verb  is  used. 

Examples :     Youth  looks  forward ;  age,  backward. 

Reading  makes  a  full  man ;  conference,  a  ready  man ;  writing,  an  exact  man. 

[  For  further  examples,  and  punctuation,  see  Rule  4   for  use  of  comma,  305.  ] 

297.  Abridgment. — Abridgment    consists    in  using   a   short 
expression  as  the  equivalent  of  a  longer  one.      The  principal 
ways  in  which  sentences  are  shortened  by  abridgment  are : 

1.  By  using  single  words  instead  of  phrases. 
[For  examples,  see  paragraphs  26  and  118. ] 

2.  By  reducing  clauses  to  single  words  or  phrases. 

Examples :    He  is  a  man  whom  people  can  trust — '  He  is  a  trustworthy  man.' 
A  man  who  has  no  hope  is  like  a  ship  without  an  anchor — '  A  man  without 
hope  is  like  ' — etc. 

3.  By  using  an  infinitive  instead  of  a  phrase  or  a  clause. 

Examples :  I  came  for  the  purpose  of  learning  what  I  could  about  it — '  I 
came  to  learn  what  I  could  about  it.' 

All  he  seems  to  care  for  is  that  he  may  become  rich — '  All  he  seems  to  care 
for  is  to  become  rich. 

Note. — When  a  noun  clause  used  as  an  object  is  thus  abridged,  its  subject  becomes  the  in- 
complete object  of  the  principal  clause,  and  the  infinitive  becomes  the  object  complement  (222. ) 

Example :  They  requested  that  he  should  hand  in  his  resignation—'  They  requested  him  to 
hand  in  his  resignation.' 

4.  By  reducing  a  subordinate  clause  to  an  imperative  co-ordinate  clause. 
Example :    If  you  are  patient,  you  will  succeed — '  Be  patient,  arid  you  will 

tucceed.' 


160  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

5.  By  using  a  participle  in   the   place  of  the  subject  and  predicate  of  a 
subordinate  clause. 

Example  :  Those  who  live  in  glass  houses  should  not  throw  stones — '  Those 
living  in  glass  houses  should  not  throw  stones.' 

When  we  had  finished  our  task,we  returned  to  the  city-  •'  Having  finished ' — etc. 

While  we  were  standing  on  the  hill,  we  could  see  the  enemy  in  the  distance 
— '  Standing  on  the  hill,  we  could  see  the  enemy  in  the  distance.' 

Note, — The  last  example  is  a  faulty  contraction,  since  there  is  danger  of  its  being  construed 
to  mean  that  the  enemy  was  standing  on  the  hill.  Participial  constructions  are  especially  liable 
to  such  ambiguity,  and  for  this  reason  their  use  in  abridgment  requires  extra  care  to  prevent 
obscurity. 

6.  By  reducing  adverbial  clauses  to  attendant  elements.     [  See  214  and  215.  ] 
Example :     Because  the  weather  was  bad,  the  audience  -was  small — '  The 

weather  being  bad,  the  audience  was  small.' 

7.  A  noun  clause  introduced  by  that  may  be  abridged  to  a  participle  and 
its  adjuncts,  one  of  the  adjuncts  being  the  possessive  form  of  the  subject  of  the 
abridged  clause. 

Examples :    That  he  is  honest  is  doubted  by  no  one — '  His  being  honest,'  etc. 
I  was  not  aware  that  it  was  he — '  I  was  not  aware  of  its  being  he.' 

Caution. — Horace  says:  "While  I  take  pains  to  be  brief,  I  fall  into 
obscurity." 

"  It  is  best,  at  all  events,  for  beginners,  not  to  aim  so  much  at  being  brief,  or 
forcible,  as  at  being  perfectly  clear.  Forcible  style  springs  from  vividness  and 
exactness  of  thought,  and  from  a  corresponding  vividness  and  exactness  in  the 
use  of  words.  When  you  are  describing  anything,  endeavor  to  see  it  and  de- 
scribe it  as  you  see  it.  Exactness  in  the  use  of  words  requires  an  exact  knowl- 
edge of  their  meanings  and  differences." — How  to  Write  Clearly. 

298.  Choice  of  Words.  "The  right  word  in  the  right  place  " 
implies  something  more  than  not  using  the  wrong  word.  It  im- 
plies a  careful  choice  between  words  usually  regarded  as  synonyms 
but  which  are  not  so.  In  reality,  there  are  but  few  absolute 
synonyms,  almost  none,  in  our  language.  Each  word  has  some 
shade  of  meaning  which  cannot  be  exactly  expressed  by  any 
other  word. 

To  tlie  Xeaclier. — It  would  be  well  to  have  students  devote  a  lesson  or  two  to  the 
writing  of  sentences  that  will  illustrate  the  difference  between  such  words  as  symptoms  and  in- 
dications ;  enough  and  sufficient ;  defective  and  deficient ;  speed,  rapidity,  and  velocity  ;  and  other 
words  so  commonly  misused  because  they  are  supposed  to  be  synonyms.  Another  good  exercise 
in  connection  with  the  work  of  this  chapter  is  to  have  students  bring  in  errors  which  they 
may  find  in  newspapers,  magazines,  or  books.  There  is  scarcely  a  daily  or  weekly  paper  but 
will  furnish  several  examples  of  redundancy,  or  faulty  arrangement,  many  of  them  as  ridiculous 
as  those  given  in  paragraphs  287  and  a8g. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  161 


HINTS  TO  YOUNG  WRITERS  AND  SPEAKERS. 

299.  The  following  extracts  from  the  pens  of  those  competent 
to  speak  on  the  subject  are  given  here  for  the  benefit  of  the  inex- 
perienced. Others,  however,  may  find  in  them  some  valuable 
suggestions. 

If  you  hear  poor  English  and  read  poor  English,  you  will  pretty  surely 
speak  poor  English,  and  write  poor  English. —  White. 

In  the  commerce  of  speech  use  only  coin  of  gold  and  silver.  .  .  .  Be 
profound  with  clear  terms,  and  not  with  obscure  terms.— Joubert. 

Never  be  grandiloquent  when  you  want  to  drive  home  a  searching  truth. 
Don't  whip  with  a  switch  that  has  the  leaves  on,  if  you  want  to  tingle. — H.  W. 
Beecher. 

I  observe  that  all  distinguished  poetry  is  written  in  the  oldest  and  simplest 
English  words.  There  is  a  point,  above  coarseness  and  below  refinement, 
where  propriety  abides. — Emerson. 

When  you  doubt  between  words,  use  the  plainest,  the  commonest,  the  most 
idiomatic.  Eschew  fine  words  as  you  would  rouge ;  love  simple  ones  as  you 
would  native  roses  on  your  cheek. — Hare. 

Altogether  the  style  of  a  writer  is  a  faithful  representative  of  his  mind ; 
therefore,  if  any  man  wishes  to  write  a  clear  style,  let  him  first  be  clear  in  his 
thoughts  ;  and  if  he  would  write  in  a  noble  style,  let  him  first  possess  a  noble 
soul. — Goethe. 

Whatever  you  have  to  say,  my  friend,  whether  witty,  or  grave,  or  gay, 

Condense  as  much  as  ever  you  can,  and  say  in  the  readiest  way ; 
And  whether  you're  writing  on  rural  affairs  or  particular  things  in  town, 
Just  take  a  word  of  friendly  advice,  boil  it  down. — Anon. 

Never  use  a  word  simply  because  it  sounds  well,  unless  it  says  what  you 
wish  to  say.  Take  nothing  for  granted  in  the  meaning  of  words.  It  often 
happens  that  careless  writers  transfer  words  from  books  of  reference  into  their 
own  writing  without  carefully  ascertaining  what  the  words  mean. — H.  L.  Keeler. 

Be  simple,  be  unaffected,  be  honest  in  your  speaking  and  writing.  Never 
use  a  long  word  where  a  short  one  will  do.  Call  a  spade  a  spade,  not  '  a  well- 
known  oblong  instrument  of  manual  husbandry;'  let  home  be  home,  not  a 
residence ;  a  place  a  place,  not  a  locality ;  and  so  of  the  rest.  Where  a  short 
word  will  do,  you  always  lose  by  using  a  long  one.  You  lose  in  clearness  ;  you 
lose  in  honest  expression  of  your  meaning ;  and,  in  the  estimation  of  all  men 
who  are  qualified  to  judge,  you  lose  in  reputation  for  ability. — Dean  Alford. 


162  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

Our  diction  is  the  expression  of  our  minds.  The  thought  is  father  to  the 
word.  Nothing,  therefore,  in  discourse  can  take  the  place  of  close,  consecutive 
thinking.  A  writer's  diction  will  be  good  up  to  the  measure  of  his  thought. 
Beyond  this,  all  is  mere  verbiage.  It  may  astonish  the  rustic  but  cannot  deceive 
the  intelligent.  Mere  verbal  power  is  one  thing.  Mental  power  transmitted 
through  appropriate  language  is  another.  True  expression  is  the  expression  of 
thought.— T.  W.  Hunt. 

In  language,  as  in  the  fine  arts,  there  is  but  one  way  to  attain  to  excellence, 
and  that  is  by  study  of  the  most  faultless  models.  As  the  air  and  manner  of  a 
gentleman  can  be  acquired  only  by  living  constantly  in  good  society,  so  grace 
and  purity  of  expression  must  be  attained  by  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the 
standard  authors.  It  is  astonishing  how  rapidly  we  may  by  this  practice  enrich 
our  vocabularies,  and  how  speedily  we  imitate  and  unconsciously  reproduce  in 
our  language  the  niceties  and  delicacies  of  expression  which  have  charmed  us 
in  a  favorite  author. —  William  Mathews. 

Simple  and  unpretending  ignorance  is  always  respectable,  and  sometimes 
charming ;  but  there  is  little  that  more  deserves  contempt  than  the  pretence  of 
ignorance  to  knowledge.  The  curse  and  the  peril  of  language  in  this  day,  and 
particularly  in  this  country,  is,  that  it  is  at  the  mercy  of  men  who,  instead  of 
being  conten  to  use  it  well  according  to  their  honest  ignorance,  use  it  ill  ac- 
cording to  their  affected  knowledge  ;  who,  being  vulgar,  would  seem  elegant ; 
who,  being  empty,  would  seem  full ;  who  make  up  in  pretence  what  they  lack 
in  reality ;  and  whose  little  thoughts,  let  off  in  enormous  phrases,  sound  like 
fire-crackers  in  an  empty  barrel. — Richard  Grant  White. 

As  a  rule,  employ  no  French  or  other  foreign  words.  To  many  good  people 
they  are  unintelligible  or  unpronounceable  ;  and  unless  your  knowledge  be  very 
accurate  there  is  a  chance  of  their  being  incorrect.  They  are  in  bad  taste  and 
wholly  out  of  tune ;  and,  moreover,  the  chances  are  a  thousand  to  one  that 
there  are  words  enough  in  English  to  tell  more  than  you  know.  Do  not  clothe 
little  thoughts  in  big  words.  The  effect  is  less  disagreeable  when  the  words 
seem  unequal  to  the  weight  of  sense  they  have  to  bear.  Do  not  "inaugurate" 
a  new  style  of  shearing  your  "  phenomenal "  poodle 

The  habitual  and  appreciative  reading  of  good  authors  will  influence  your 
style  without  your  thinking  of  it.  Having  a  stock  of  words  acquired  by  read- 
ing and  having  mastered  your  subject  as  a  whole  and  in  its  details,  tell  your 
story  in  your  own  words  and  in  your  own  way  without  any  thought  about  style 
or  fine  writing.  If  time  be  allowed  you,  lay  aside  your  manuscript  until  you 
have  in  a  manner  forgotten  it  and  can  see  it  with  something  like  the  eyes  of  a 
stranger.  Then  go  over  it  carefully,  strike  out  every  word  that  can  be  spared, 
change  every  word  and  every  sentence  that  can  be  changed  for  the  better,  and 
leave  the  rest  unaltered. — Samuel  Ramsey. 


PLAIN  ENGLISH.  163 


PUNCTUATION. 

300.  Punctuation,  from  the  Latin punctum  (' point'),  is  the 
art  of  pointing  off  printed  or  written  language  so  as  to  make 
its  meaning  plain. 

Remarks. — In  this  work,  the  aim  has  been  to  give  only  those  rules  that  will 
be  found  of  practical  every-day  use.  The  frequency  of  the  comma  as  a  mark  of 
punctuation,  and  the  variety  of  its  uses,  make  it  advisable  to  formulate  a  series 
of  rules  under  which  those  uses  may  be  grouped.  These  rules  are  supple- 
mented by  examples  and  a  sufficient  number  of  sentences  for  practice  to  fix  the 
rule  more  firmly  in  the  student's  mind. 

The  uses  of  the  other  marks  of  punctuation  are  so  few  and  simple  that  formal 
rules  are  not  given  for  them,  their  most  common  uses  being  merely  stated  in  a 
specific  way. 

MARKS   USED   IN   PUNCTUATING. 

Comma  (,)  ,       Colon  (:) 

Marks  of  Parenthesis  (  )       Period  ( . ) 

Dash  ( — )  Interrogation  ( ? ) 

Brackets  L.  ]  Exclamation  (!) 

Semicolon  (;)  Quotation  Marks  (  "  ") 

301.  The  comma  indicates  the  slightest  degree  of  separation 
between  the  parts  of  a  sentence. 

302.  RULE  1.— Introductory  words,  attendant  elements,  inter- 
mediate  expressions,  and  parenthetical  words  and  phrases,  should 
be  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence  by  commas. 

Note  j. — With  the  "  introductory  words  "  may  be  classed  those  words  that  are  "  independent 
by  direct  address  "  (see  206  a  and  b] ;  also  such  words  as  yes,  no,  first,  second,  therefore,  Jiojv- 
ever,\vhen  used  merely  to  introduce  a  statement.  Of  the  introductory  words  ( paragraph  207), 
that,  it,  and  there  (b),  and  the  introductory  conjunctions  (c),  do  not  come  under  this  rule. 

Note  2. — Attendant  elements. — These  have  been  fully  explained  under  the  head  of  "  absolute 
constructions,"  pages  89  and  90.  The  examples  given  in  paragraphs  214  and  216,  and  the  sen- 
tences in  paragraph  215,  fully  illustrate  this  part  of  the  rule. 

(a)  When  the  pleonastic  use  of  a  word  is  more  formal,  being  used  as  a.  title  or  as  the  sub- 
ject of  a  discourse,  it  is  followed  by  the  colon  ;  as,  "  Heaven  :  What  is  It  and  Where  is  It?  " 

Note  j.— Parenthetical  words  and  phrases  are  those  not  essential  to  the  meaning  of  the  sen- 
tence in  which  they  stand.  Examples :  "  I  will,  hmvever,  keep  the  matter  in  mind."  "  We  are, 
in  fact,  only  beginning  to  feel  its  effects  upon  our  business." 

The  following  list  contains  those  words  and  phrases  most  commonly  used  in  a  parenthetical 


1M  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

way:  Therefore,  then,  however,  perhaps,  namely,  indeed,  too,  surely,  finally,  moreover,  accord- 
ingly,  nevertheless,  in  short,  in  fact,  in  fine,  in  truth,  in  reality,  in  brief,  in  a  word,  so  to  speak, 
no  doubt,  to  be  brief,  to  be  sure,  after  all,  of  course,  in  the  first  place,  in  the  second  place,  etc. 

Note  4. — Intermediate  expressions  are  clauses  and  expressions  not  exactly  parenthetical  in 
character,  yet  so  placed  as  to  come  between  some  of  the  essential  parts  of  a  sentence,  as  for 
instance,  between  the  subject  and  predicate.  Example:  "  Truth,  like  gold,  shines  brighter  by 
collision."  Under  this  head  may  be  placed  those  constructions  known  as  "  nouns  in  apposi- 
tion," or  "  explanatory  modifiers,"  which,  together  with  their  modifiers,  should  be 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence  by  commas  ;  as,  "  Paul,  the  great  apostle,  was  a  man  of 
energy."  When  the  noun  in  apposition  is  unmodified  or  closely  connected,  no  comma  is 
required;  as,  "  Paul  the  apostle  preached  to  the  Gentiles."  Titles  following  names  are  apposi- 
tive  and  should  be  separated  from  the  name,  and  (incase  of  more  than  one  title)  from  each 
other  by  commas  ;  as,  James  Hills,  Esq.  ;  Rev.  Noah  Porter,  D.  D.,  LI,.  D.  [  See  pp.  87-8.  ] 

SENTENCES    FOR   PRACTICE.* 

i.  No  I  am  not  prepared  to  do  so.  2.  Again  we  often  hear  men  say  that  they 
will  not  believe  what  they  cannot  understand.  3.  Why  this  is  all  wrong. 
4.  Mr.  President  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  5.  My  dear  sir  you  are  in  error  about 
this  matter.  6.  We  trust  however  that  you  may  yet  see  it  in  a  different  light. 
7.  They  were  indeed  better  than  we  expected.  8.  He  will  not  therefore  consent 
to  the  change  of  time.  9.  Consequently  it  will  not  do  to  present  the  matter  in 
that  meeting.  10.  They  are  in  fact  only,  waiting  for  a  favorable  opportunity. 
IT.  After  all  it  is  possible  that  you  may  be  wrong.  12.  Just  now  as  it  happens 
we  are  out  of  them.  13.  Secondly  let  us  proceed  to  prove  it  from  his  own 
admission.  14.  To  be  sure  we  have  only  his  word  for  it.  15.  Education  rightly 
applied  will  bring  success  and  honor.  16.  A  man  of  great  wealth  may  for  want 
of  education  and  refinement  of  manner  become  a  mere  cipher  in  society. 

17.  Business  education  to  use  a  figure  is  the  golden  key  to  business  success. 

18.  Charity  on  whatever  side  we  contemplate  it  is  one  of  the  highest  Christian 
graces.     19.  The  reader  should  however  as  he  proceeds  from  sentence  to  sen- 
tence make  a  note  of  whatever  strikes  his  attention.     20.  Then  came  Jesus  the 
doors  being  shut  and  stood  in  the  midst.     21.  Victoria  the  Queen  of  England  is 
very  wealthy.     22.  We  the  people  of  the  United  States  do  hereby  ordain  and 
establish  this  constitution. 

303.  RULE  2.— Words,  phrases,  and  clauses,  forming  a  series  and 
having  the  same  construction,  should  be  separated  from  each  other 
by  commas,  unless  all  the  conjunctions  are  given. 

This  rule  has  a  variety  of  applications  which,  for  convenience,  may  be  exam- 
ined under  the  following  heads  : 

i.     Words. — Words  forming  a  series  admit  four  cases,  as  follows  : 

(a)     When  a  conjunction  is  used  between  each  two  of  the  words,  no  commas 


•To  ttae  Teacher.— Do  not  allow  students  to  mark  the  punctuations  in  their  books. 


PLAIN  ENGLISH.  166 

are  required ;  as,  "  Industry  and  honesty  and  temperance  and  frugality  are  among 
the  cardinal  virtues." 

(b)  When  all  the  conjunctions  but  the  last  are  omitted,  a  comma  should  be 
placed  after  each  of  the  words  excepting  the  last  one  ;  as,  "  Industry,  honesty, 
temperance,  and  frugality  are  among  the  cardinal  virtues." 

(c)  All  the  conjunctions  may  be  omitted,  in  which  case  a  comma  should  be 
placed  after  the  last  word  in  the  series,  to  separate  it  from  what  follows ;  a$, 
"  Industry,  honesty,  temperance,  frugality,  are  among  the  cardinal  virtues." 

( d)  When  there  are  an  even  number  of  words,  four  or  more,  each  alternate 
conjunction  may  be  omitted,  leaving  the   words  in  pairs ;   as,   "Industry  and 
honesty,  temperance  and  frugality,  are  among  the  cardinal  virtues." 

2.  Modified  Words  and  Phrases. — Expressions  consisting  of  phrases 
or  principal  words  and  their  modifiers,  when  forming  a  series,  admit  the  four 
cases  given  above  for  single  words. 

Examples :  Pure  thoughts,  good  deeds,  and  noble  aspirations  elevate  a  man.  I,ove  for 
study,  a  desire  to  do  right,  and  carefulness  in  choosing  our  companions  are  important  traits  of 
character. 

3.  Co-ordinate  Clauses. — Simple   co-ordinate    members   of  a  compound 
sentence,  closely  connected  in  thought,  admit  cases    (b)   and   (c)    for  words, 
and  should  be  punctuated  accordingly.     However,  two  simple  sentences  con- 
nected by  a  co-ordinate  conjunction  are  separated  by  a  comma,  unless  they  are 
very  short  and  closely  connected  in  thought. 

Example :  Speak  as  you  mean,  do  as  you  profess,  [and]  perform  what  you  promise.  [  For 
further  examples,  see  paragraph  50 ;  also  exercise  18,  page  22,  and  the  compound  sentences  in 
paragraph  95.  J 

SENTENCES  FOR  PRACTICE. 

i.  They  have  been  prompt  honest  and  generous  in  all  their  dealings  with  us, 
2.  She  writes  an  easy  strong  legible  hand.  3.  Apples  pears  grapes  bananas  and 
oranges  have  an  upward  tendency  in  the  market.  4.  He  was  brave  pious  patri- 
otic in  all  his  aspirations.  5.  Infinite  space  endless  numbers  and  eternal  dura- 
tion fill  the  mind  with  great  ideas.  6.  Sickness  and  suffering  sorrow  and  despair 
poverty  and  crime  are  fruits  of  intemperance.  [Write  in  four  ways  according 
to  cases  a,  b,  c,  and  d,  Rule  2.  ]  7.  Crafty  men  coritemn  studies  simple  men 
admire  them  wise  men  use  them.  8.  The  frost  had  set  in  the  low  damp  ground 
was  hard  the  dykes  were  frozen.  9.  Modern  engineering  spans  whole  continents 
tunnels  mountains  and  rivers  and  dykes  out  old  ocean  himself.  10.  Trifles 
make  perfection  and  perfection  is  no  trifle,  u.  It  is  a  useful  accomplishment 
to  be  able  to  read  write  spell  or  cipher  with  accuracy.  [  Write  this  sentence  in 
the  four  forms  mentioned  under  Rule  2.]  12.  Did  God  create  for  the  poor  a 
coarser  earth  a  thinner  air  a  paler  sky  ?  13.  To  cleanse  our  opinions  from  false- 


166  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

hood  our  hearts  from  malignity  and  our  actions  from  vice  is  our  chief  concern. 
14.  Eating  or  drinking  laboring  or  sleeping  let  us  do  all  in  moderation.  15.  To 
have  and  to  hold  for  better  for  worse  for  richer  for  poorer  in  sickness  and  in 
health  to  love  and  to  cherish. 

304.  RULE  3.— Inverted  phrases  and  clauses,  and  phrases  and 
clauses  not  closely  connected  with  the  words  they  modify,  should  be 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence  by  commas. 

Note  /.—An  "  inverted  "  phrase  or  clause  is  one  that  stands  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence 
instead  of  following  the  word  it  modifies;  thus,  "To  supply  the  deficiency,  he  resorted  to  a 
shameful  trick."  In  this  sentence,  To  supply  the  deficiency  modifies  "  trick,"  and  if  it  followed 
that  word,  no  comma  would  be  required. 

All  sentences  beginning  with  subordinate  conjunctions  contain  inverted  clauses.  The  most 
common  are  those  beginning  with  z/or  when  ;  as,  "  If  you  are  in  a  hurry,  you  need  not  wait  for 
us."  "  When  a  man  ceases  to  go  up,  he  begins  t~  go  down." 

Note  2.—H  is  not  always  possible  to  place  phrases  and  clauses  next  the  words  they  limit,  for 
the  reason  that  two  or  more  phrases  or  clauses  may  modify  the  same  word.  Phrases  and  clauses 
that  are  thus  separated  from  their  antecedent  words  should  be  preceded  by  the  comma.  When 
a  phrase  or  a  clause  is  the  antecedent  of  a  relative  pronoun,  the  relative  should  be  preceded  by 
a  comma.  [  For  examples,  see  82  c.  ] 

SENTENCES   FOR  PRACTICE. 

I.  Of  all  our  senses  sight  is  the  most  important.  2.  In  reply  to  your  letter  I 
wish  to  say  that  it  is  contrary  to  our  rules,  etc.  3.  In  answer  to  your  inquiry  we 
are  pleased  to  inform  you  that  the  note  was  duly  settled.  4.  In  view  of  these 
facts  we  shall  not  advise  you  to  return.  5.  When  you  have  completed  your  work 
there  come  and  see  us.  6.  If  you  are  not  satisfied  with  your  present  position 
you  are  at  liberty  to  resign  and  go  elsewhere.  7.  If  you  would  succeed  in  busi- 
ness be  punctual  in  observing  your  engagements.  8.  If  you  wish  a  consign- 
ment of  these  goods  telegraph  us  immediately.  9.  Hoping  to  hear  from  you 
soon  I  remain  yours  truly.  10.  Please  telegraph  me  on  receipt  of  this  letter 
saying  when  they  will  be  ready  to  ship. 

305.  RULE  4.— The  omission  of  the  verb  in  a  sentence  or  clause 
should  be  indicated  by  a  comma. 

Note.— This  omission  of  the  verb  is  what  is  known  as  "  ellipsis,"  and  may  occur  in  two 
ways:    i.  For  emphasis,  or  mere  rhetorical  effect  in  short  sentences;    2.  By  giving  it  in  the 
first  of  a  series  of  brief  sentences  and  omitting  it  in  the  rest  of  them  to  avoid  repetition. 
England's  friend,  Ireland's  foe.     (Meaning,  "  England's  friend  is  Ireland's  foe."  ) 
Reading  maketh  a  full  man  ;  conference,  a  ready  man ;  writing,  an  exact  man. 

SENTENCES  FOR  PRACTICE. 

i.  The  wise  man  seeks  to  shine  in  himself;  a  fool  to  outshine  others.  2. 
Curiosity  allures  the  wise ;  vanity  the  foolish  ;  and  pleasure  both.  3.  The  first 
ingredient  in  conversation  is  truth  ;  the  next  good  sense ;  the  third  good  humor ; 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  167 

and  the  fourth  wit.  4.  The  poor  man  is  rich  with  contentment  ;  the  rich  man 
poor  without  it.  5.  Leisure  without  learning  is  death  ;  idleness  the  grave  of 
the  living  man. 

306.  RULE  5.—  In  dating,  addressing,  and  directing  letters,  if 
two  or  more  items  occupy  the  same  line,  they  should  be  separated 
from  each  other  by  commas. 

This  rule  is  illustrated  by  the  following  models  : 


^__^/  f  -e^ttjL<£&*<t<CJ''rZ'j      \C/<&.'?t''*Z'. 


Note  /.—  The  "  items  "  in  the  date  line  are  :  i.  Post-office  ;  2.  County  (  if  the  place  is  small)  ; 
3.  State;  4.  Month  and  day;  5.  Year.  When  one  of  these  items  is  abbreviated  (as  is  often  the 
case  with  the  State  and  month),  both  a  period  and  a  comma  should  be  used,  the  former  for  the 
abbreviation  and  the  latter  because  it  belongs  there  when  the  word  is  written  in  full. 


STAMP 


•ez-c^.jLt'&.'Ztz.       (L/-C*-.  (Ls 'em**?* . 


AoA?.2.-»The  place  occupied  by  "  Fairfield  Co."  in  the  model  given  above  is  used  for  the  street 
address  in  directing  letters  to  persons  in  large  cities  ;  also  for  the  post-office  box  number,  or 
for  the  name  of  the  person  to  whose  care  the  letter  is  directed. 

[  The  teacher  will  furnish  the  material  for  practice  under  this  rule.  ] 

307.     RULE  6. — Short  quotations  should  be  preceded  by  a  comma. 

Bxample  :    His  last  word*  were,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship." 


168  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

SENTENCES   FOR  PRACTICE. 

I.  He  remarked  "  I  fear  it  is  true."  2.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  the 
saying  "  Pretty  is  as  pretty  does."  3.  Dr.  Johnson  says  "  I  can  abstain  but  I 
can't  be  temperate."  4.  Their  watchword  was  "  Taxation  without  representa- 
tion is  tyranny." 

[  For  punctuation  in  case  of  extended  quotations,  or  quotations  introduced 
in  a  formal  way,  see  Rule  4  for  use  of  colon,  313.  ] 

308.  BULB  7.— Commas  are  used  to  separate  the  figures  of  large 
numbers  into  periods  of  three  figures  each. 

Examples:    $36,578;  9,235,768;  13,475,629;  $3,563,847.91. 

MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES  FOR  PRACTICE. 
Punctuate  the  following : 

I.  There  is  much  in  the  proverb  "  Without  pains  no  gains."  2.  Each  colony 
at  the  end  of  King  Philip's  war  found  itself  weak  from  the  loss  of  men.  3.  Char- 
acter the  glor}'  of  all  great  men  is  the  best  part  of  everyone.  4.  The  third  presi- 
dent was  Thomas  Jefferson  the  writer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  5.  A 
man  once  hated  is  not  easily  raised  again  to  honor.  6.  John  Bright  said  of  boys 
"Teach  them  arithmetic  thoroughly  and  they  are  made  men."  7.  Many  are  the 
valuable  purposes  framed  which  end  only  in  words.  8.  Mothers  create  the 
moral  atmosphere  of  their  homes  which  is  the  nutriment  of  man's  moral  being. 
9.  Some  books  are  to  be  tasted ;  others  to  be  swallowed.  10.  What  one  dies  for 
not  his  dying  glorifies  him.  n.  What  it  is  our  duty  to  do  we  must  do  not  be- 
cause anyone  can  force  it  from  us  but  because  it  is  right.  12.  To  confess  the 
truth  I  was  to  blame.  13.  Mr.  Chairman  the  subject  shall  receive  immediate  at- 
tention. 14.  No  State  shall  without  the  consent  of  Congress  lay  any  imposts  or 
duties  on  imports  or  exports.  15.  He  has  lost  wealth  home  and  friends. 
16.  Trifles  make  perfection  and  perfection  is  no  trifle. 

Remark. — Their  use  being  similar  to  the  parenthetical  use  of  the  comma, 
the  Dash,  Marks  of  Parenthesis,  and  Brackets  are  introduced  at  this  point. 

309.  The  dash.— Dashes  are  used — 

I.  When  the  parenthetical  expression  has  not  as  close  connection  with  the 
rest  of  the  sentence  as  would  be  indicated  by  commas  ;  as — 

The  statement  maybe  true — I  am  not  prepared  to  dispute  it — that  he  is  guilty. 
a.    When  there  is  a  sudden  break  or  transition  in  the  thought ;  as — 

In  the  next  place — but  I  will  not  discuss  the  matter  further. 
3.    To  mark  the  omission  of  letters  or  figures;  as — 
Mrs.W n.    Thecitj'ofC d.     Matthew  ix:  1-14.    Pages  48-52.    1776-79 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  169 

4.  After  as,  namely,  etc.,  when  the  enumeration  or  statement  thus  introduced 
begins  on  the  next  line ;  also  to  separate  the  name  of  an  author  from  an  extract 
from  his  writings;  as — 

The  man  that  blushes  is  not  quite  a  brute. —  Young. 

Remark. — Many  persons,  being  ignorant  of  the  rules  for  punctuating,  make  a  weak  effort 
to  conceal  their  ignorance  by  throwing  dashes  into  their  writing  in  an  indiscriminate  way. 
This  habit  is  to  be  condemned,  and  young  writers,  particularly,  should  guard  against  it. 

310.  Marks  of  parenthesis   are  used  to  enclose  explanatory 
Words,  or  when  the  parenthetical  part  has  little  or  no  connection 
with  the  rest  of  the  sentence. 

Note.—1''  If  a  point  would  be  required  between  the  parts  of  a  sentence,  in  case  no  parenthesis 
were  there,  then,  when  the  parenthesis  is  inserted,  said  point  should  be  inserted  also,  and 
should  be  placed  after  the  second  mark  of  parenthesis  ;  as,  '  Pride,  in  some  disguise  or  other,  is 
the  most  ordinary  spring  of  action.'  '  Pride,  in  some  disguise  or  other  ( often  a  secret  to  the 
proud  man  himself),  is  the  most  ordinary  spring  of  action.'  If  the  parenthetical  part  requires, 
at  the  end,  a  point  of  its  own,  this  point  should  come  inside  of  the  last  mark  of  parenthesis, 
and  the  point  belonging  to  the  main  sentence  should  come  before  the  first  mark  of  parenthesis  ; 
as, 'While  the  Christian  desires  the  approbation  of  his  fellow-men,  (and  why  should  he  not 
desire  it?)  he  disdains  to  obtain  their  good-will  by  dishonorable  means.'  'Say  not  in  thine 
heart, '  Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven  ?  ( that  is  to  bring  Christ  down  from  above ; )  or,  who  shall 
descend  into  the  deep?  ( that  is  to  bring  up  Christ  again  from  the  dead;)  but  what  saith  it?  '  " 
t  This  applies  to  points  used  in  connection  with  the  dash  and  brackets. }— Hart's  Rhetoric. 

(a)  One  frequent  use  of  the  marks  of  parenthesis  is  to  enclose  figures  and 
letters  referring  to  a~note,  rule,  paragraph,  section,  remark,  or  page,  to  which 
attention  is  called.     For  examples,  see  almost  any  page  of  this  book. 

(b)  Marks  of  parenthesis   are  used  to  enclose   an   amount  or  number  in 
figures,  when  it  is  also  written  in  words. 

Examples:  Ship  us  twenty  (20)  bushels  of  apples  by  freight.  Enclosed 
find  twenty  dollars  ($20)  to  apply  on  account. 

311.  Brackets    are  similar  to  marks  of  parenthesis,  but  are 
restricted  in  their  use  to  enclose  matter  that  is  independent  of 
the  sentence  in  which  it  occurs  ;  such  as  interpolations,  notes, 
corrections,  or  explanations,  made  by  authors  in  quoting  from 
others,  and  by  editors,  when  they  introduce  words  of  their  own 
into  matter  furnished  by  contributors. 

312.  A  semicolon  should  be  used — 

i.  Just  before  such  words  as  namely,  as,  thus,  viz.,  i.  e.,  introducing  an 
illustration  or  enumeration. 

Example  :  The  word  "  knowledge,"  strictly  employed,  implies  three  things; 
namely,  truth,  proof,  and  conviction. 


170  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

When  the  words  following  one  of  these  expressions  are  thrown  into  the 
body  of  a  sentence,  in  a  parenthetical  way,  no  semicolon  is  required.  [  See 
Note  j,  Rule  i,  for  comma.] 

2.  After  each  item  in  a  series  of  specific   statements ;  as,  for  instance,  a 
list  of  articles  where   prices    or  qualifying  expressions  are  used ;    names  of 
authors  or  their  works ;  dates  or  any  list  of  numbers  intended  to   be  taken 
separately. 

Example :  We  quote  prices  as  follows  :  No.  2,  $1.00 ;  fair  to  medium,  90  cts.; 
No.  3,  dull  at  80  cts.;  poorer  grades  not  in  demand. 

3.  To  separate  closely  connected  simple  sentences  when  the  conjunction  is 
omitted,  and  to  separate  the  members  of  compound  sentences  when  one  or 
more  of  the  members  contain  commas,  especially  when  the  commas  indicate  the 
omission  of  the  verb. 

[The  rule  itself  furnishes  one  illustration.  For  further  examples,  see  exer- 
cises 19,  20,  and  21,  page  22,  and  the  second  example  under  Rule  5,  for  the 
comma,  306.  See,  also,  the  quotation  from  Max  Mueller,  p.  96.] 

SENTENCES  FOR  PRACTICE. 

i.  Greece  has  given  us  three  historians  namely  Herodotus  Xenophon  and 
Thucydides.  2.  We  have  on  hand  several  copies  of  the  following  works  which 
we  offer  cheap :  Laws  of  Business  Parsons  The  Conflict  of  Laws  2  Vol  Story 
Blackstone's  Commentaries.  3.  Our  annual  output  has  been  as  follows :  in  1888 
23000  1889  32000  1890  38000  1891  47500.  4.  We  wish  to  cdll  your  attention  to  the 
following  prices  of  our  machines :  No  i  $75  No  2  $82  No  3  $87.50.  5.  Piety  is  the 
best  profession  honesty  the  best  policy  vice  its  own  punishment  virtue  its  own 
reward. 

313.    The  colon  should  be  used — 

1.  Between  figures  designating  hours  and  minutes  ;  as,  9 : 10  A.  M. ;  7 : 45  P.  M. 

2.  After  the  salutation  at  the  beginning  of  a  letter;  as,  Sir:,  Gentlemen: 
In  such  cases,  it  is  often  followed  by  a  dash. 

3.  Before  an  enumeration  of  articles  or  parts  introduced  by  such  expres- 
sions as  "the  following"  "as  follows"  (or 'as  follow');    also  after  the  word 
"  Example,"  when  capitalized. 

4.  After  a  formal  introduction  to  a  speech,  or  lengthy  quotation ;  as,  His 
reply  was  this :    "  America  has  millions  for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for  tribute." 

Note.— Formerly  the  colon  was  used  in  the  following  ways  :  i.  To  separate  closely  con- 
nected sentences  ;  2.  To  separate  from  a  sentence,  complete  in  itself,  an  additional  clause  of 
Inference  or  explanation,  the  connecting  word  (  usually  for,  but,  or  yet]  being  omitted;  as,— 
Apply  yourself  to  study  [  for  ] :  it  will  redound  to  your  honor.  3.  To  divide  long  sentences  whose 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  171 

members  themselves  were  separated  by  semicolons,  f  For  examples  of  first  and  third  uses,  se^ 
Twenty-third  Psalm,  page  98.]  These  uses  of  the  colon  are  not  regarded  now,  except  by  very 
careful  writers  in  the  higher  types  of  literature.  In  ordinary  writing,  the  semicolon  has  taker 
the  place  of  the  colon  in  the  first  and  second  uses  mentioned  above  ( the  connecting  word  being 
used);  while  the  period  has  taken  its  place  in  the  third,  making  two  sentences  instead  of  one. 

SENTENCES  FOR  PRACTICE. 

1.  Trains  depart  as  follows  630  A  M  1145  A  M  410  P  M  715  P  M  and  1050  P  M 

2.  Dear  Madam  Sir  Miss  Brown  Dear  Friend  To  whom  it  may  concern 

3.  We  should  be  pleased  to  supply  you  with  any  or  all  of  the  following 
popular  periodicals  The  Century  Harper's  and  Scribner's  monthlies  The  Arena 
and  the  North  American  Review 

4.  Please  ship  us  at  once  by  fast  freight  the  following  goods 

5.  Patrick  Henry  closed  his  speech  with  these  words  Caesar  had  his  Brutus 
Charles  the  First  his  Cromwell  and  George  the  Third  may  profit  by  their  example 

314.  The  period  should  be  used  in  the  following  places: 

1.  At  the  close  of  all  assertive  and  imperative  sentences. 

2.  After  all  abbreviations  ;  as,  Co.,  Mass.,  Dr.,  Mdse.,  U.  S.  A. 

3.  As  a  decimal  point  between  dollars  and  cents,  and  after  the  denomina- 
tions of  Sterling  money ;  as,  $4.50 ;  $35,627.89  ;  £4.  153.;  ^"19.  35.  4d. 

4.  After  letters  used  as  numerals,  and  after  figures  used  to  number  para- 
graphs, notes,  remarks,  questions,  or  any  list  of  particulars ;  as,  (IX.),  (Rule  i.), 
(See  §  10.),   (Remark  3,  p.  16.),  (p.  4,  Vol.  2.) 

5.  After  headings  and  titles,  and  after  dates  and  signatures  to  letters  and 
other  documents ;  also  at  the  close  of  the  address  at  the  beginning  of  a  letter, 
and  after  the  last  item  in  the  direction  on  the  envelope  or  package. 

Punctuate  the  following: 

1.  Cleveland  O  December  i  1891     Philadelphia  Pa  Jan  15  1892 

2.  Smith   Publishing    Company   No  12    North  Prospect  St  Baltimore   Md. 
Dr  A  P  Nicholls  Medina  Medina  Co  Ohio 

3.  I  am  Yours  truly  John  Smith    We  are  Respectfully  Davis,  Hunt  &  Co. 

315.  The  interrogation  is  used  at  the  close  of  direct  questions : 

Examples :     Can  you  come  to  see  us  ?    Will  they  furnish  them  at  that  price  ? 

Note  /.—An  interrogation  should  be  used  after  an  interrogative  phrase  or  clause  that  is 
repeated  in  the  body  of  a  declarative  sentence;  as,  "The  question,  'What  do  we  live  for?'  is 
a  solemn  one."  [This  applies  also  to  the  mark  of  exclamation.] 


172  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

Note  a. — Usually,  the  interrogation  Is  equivalent  to  a  period,  but  not  always.  Sometimes 
the  interrogative  clause  occurs  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  while  at  other  times  the  sentence 
is  composed  of  a  series  of  questions,  so  that  the  interrogation  maybe  equivalent  to  a  comma  or 
semicolon.  It  is  important  that  the  writer  should  know  to  what  the  interrogation  is  equiva- 
lent, as  upon  this  depends  whether  the  next  word  shall  begin  with  a  capital.  The  way  to  de- 
termine this  is  to  change  the  questions  into  affirmative  form.  If,  by  doing  this,  the  questions 
are  resolved  into  independent  statements,  the  interrogation  is  equivalent  to  a  period;  but  if 
the  expressions  appear  as  a  series  of  phrases  or  clauses,  requiring  the  comma  or  semicolon  for 
their  punctuation,  the  interrogation  is  equivalent  to  one  or  the  other  of  those  marks,  and  the 
next  word  should  not  begin  with  a  capital. 

Examples:  i.  Shall  a  man  gain  the  favor  of  heaven  by  impiety?  by  falsehood?  by  mur- 
der ?  by  theft?  Affirmatively :  A  man  can  not  obtain  the  favor  of  heaven  by  impiety,  by  false- 
hood, by  murder,  by  theft.  (  Equivalent  to  commas. ) 

2.  Who  will  heed  his  absurd  claim?  who  will  be  influenced  by  his  misrepresentations  ? 
Affirmatively:  No  one  will  heed  his  absurd  claim;  no  one  will  be  influenced  by  his  mis- 
representations. (  Equivalent  to  the  semicolon.) 

SENTENCES  FOR  PRACTICE. 

I.  When  does  he  expect  to  return  2.  Are  you  ready  to  begin  the  work 
3.  His  question  "  How  are  we  to  prove  it "  was  not  out  of  place.  4.  "  Well  what 
are  you  going  to  do  about  it"  was  his  impertinent  question  5.  Is  she  fond  of 
music  of  art  of  literature  and  is  she  self-reliant  6.  Can  he  be  so  blind  to  his 
own  interests  so  indifferent  to  the  public  welfare 

316.  The  exclamation  is  used  after  words,   phrases,  or  sen- 
tences expressing  strong  emotion. 

Examples:  O  Absalom!  OGod!  O  my  child!  Alas!  I  am  undone.  Oh, 
where  shall  rest  be  found!  Oh!  Where  shall  rest  be  found?  [  See  323*,  Note.\ 

317.  Quotation  marks  are  used  to  show  that  the  words  en- 
closed by  them  are  the  exact  words  of  another  writer  or  speaker. 

[  For  examples,  see  sentences  for  practice,  under  Rule  6  for  the  comma.  ] 

Note  i. — When  one  quotation  is  contained  within  another  it  should  be  indicated  by  single 
marks.  Should  the  contained  quotation  come  at  the  end  of  the  sentence,  three  apostrophes 
should  be  used  after  it. 

Examples  :  He  began  by  saying,  "  The  old  proverb,  '  Well  begun  is  half  done,'  contains  an 
important  truth."  The  speaker  replied,  "  In  the  words  of  the  immortal  Lawrence,  I  would  say, 
'  Don't  give  up  the  ship.'  " 

Note  2. — A  period,  colon,  semicolon,  or  comma  after  the  last  word  of  a  quotation  is  placed 
before  the  quotation  marks.  Other  punctuation  marks  are  placed  before  the  quotation  marks, 
if  they  are  part  of  the  quotation,  and  after  them  if  they  are  used  to  punctuate  the  sentence. 

SENTENCES  FOR  PRACTICE. 

I.  In  his  last  moments  he  uttered  these  words  I  fall  a  sacrifice  to  wealth  and 
luxury  2.  Throwing  herself  in  front  of  Marie  Antoinette  Elizabeth  exclaimed 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  173 

I  am  the  queen  3.  My  friend  said  the  excited  driver  you  should  turn  to  the 
right  and  give  me  half  the  road.  4.  John  B.  Gough  said  Young  man  keep  your 
record  clean. 

MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES  TO  BE  PUNCTUATED. 

i.  The  greatest  truths  are  the  simplest  so  are  the  greatest  men.  2.  The  way 
to  wealth  is  as  plain  as  the  way  to  market  namely  industry  and  frugality.  3.  We 
must  however  pay  some  deference  to  the  opinions  of  the  wise  however  much 
they  are  contrary  to  our  own.  4.  If  you  would  be  revenged  on  your  enemies  let 
your  life  be  blameless.  5.  In  giving  let  your  object  be  the  necessitous  and  the 
deserving  your  end  their  help.  6.  Honesty  is  the  best  policy  but  he  is  not  an 
honest  man  that  acts  on  that  principle.  7.  No  one  is  out  of  the  reach  of  mis- 
fortune no  one  therefore  should  glory  in  his  prosperity.  8.  Do  not  insult  a  poor 
man  his  misery  entitles  him  to  pity.  9.  Yes  sir  it  has  been  attended  to. 
jo.  Vanity  and  ambition  are  both  wrong  the  one  displays  itself  in  love  of  show  the 
other  in  love  of  place.  1 1.  Well  many  strange  things  have  happened  lately. 
12.  There  is  a  joy  in  sorrow  which  none  but  the  mourner  can  know.  13.  Our 
own  productions  flatter  us  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  fond  of  them  at  the  first 
moment.  14.  We  have  in  fine  every  facility  for  accomplishing  the  greatest 
amount  of  work.  15.  Act  well  at  the  moment  and  you  have  performed  a  good 
action  to  all  eternity.  16.  Was  that  wonderful  instrument  the  hand  made  to  be 
idle?  17.  Character  is  a  mirror  which  reflects  in  after  life  the  images  first  pre- 
sented to  it.  18.  We  two  gentlemen  are  interested  in  an  early  settlement  of 
this  question  and  from  our  point  of  view  it  cannot  be  settled  too  soon. 
19.  Newton  the  great  mathematician  was  very  modest.  20.  To  speak  candidly  I 
do  not  understand  the  subject.  21.  A  boy  educated  at  home  meets  many  disap- 
pointments on  coming  into  the  world.  22.  Do  not  squander  time  for  that  is'  the 
stuff  that  life  is  made  of.  23.  Plutarch  truly  observes  no  man  can  be  both  ac- 
cuser and  judge.  24.  Good  manners  are  not  for  state  occasions  but  the  natural 
garment  for  every  day.  25.  John  Quincy  Adams's  last  words  were  This  is  the 
end  of  life.  26.  No  one  is  out  of  the  reach  of  misfortune  no  one  therefore 
should  glory  in  his  prosperity.  27.  Nature  is  contented  with  little  grace  with  less. 
28.  The  population  of  the  city  of  Cleveland  in  1810  was  57  in  1850  17034  in  1890 
261708.  29.  Vice  is  infamous  though  in  a  prince  virtue  honorable  though  in  a 
peasant.  30.  These  three  things  you  will  never  repent  i.  Rising  early  to  busi- 
ness 2.  Learning  good  things  3.  Obliging  good  men. 

OTHER  MARKS  USED  IN  WRITING  AND  PRINTING. 

318.    The  apostrophe  is  used— 

1.  To  mark  the  omission  of  a  letter  or  syllable ;  as,  o'er,  ne'er,  'tis,  they'll. 

2.  To  mark  the  omission  of  the  century  in  dates ;  as,  '89,  '92. 

3.  With  the  s  to  indicate  the  plural  of  a  letter,  figure,  or  sign.    [  See  131.] 


174  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

4.  With  the  s  to  indicate  the  possessive  form  of  all  nouns,  excepting  plurals 
that  end  in  s.  [  See  135.  ]  The  apostrophe  should  not  be  used  with  the  possess- 
ive pronouns  his,  ours,  yours,  its,  etc. 

319.  The  hyphen  is  used  between  the  parts  of  compound 
words,  and  at  the  end  of  a  line  to  indicate  that  a  word  is  divided. 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  decide  whether  the  hyphen  should  be 
used  to  indicate  the  compounding  of  two  words.  The  following 
directions  are  abridged  from  an  article  written  by  a  practical 
printer,  and  published  in  the  National  Educator  : 

1.  When  two  nouns  come  together  and  the  second  one  implies  the  act  of 
containing  the  first,  a  hyphen  is  used  to  connect  them;  thus,  wood-box,  paper- 
box,  glass-box,  ice-house ;  when,  however,  the  first  noun  indicates  the  mateiial 
of  which  the  second  is  made,  no  hyphen  should  be  used ;  as,  wood  box,  paper 
box,  glass  box,  ice  house.     Notice  the  difference  between  wood-box  and  wood 
"box,  etc. 

2.  When  two  adjectives  stand  before  a  noun  and  the  first  one  belongs  rather 
to  the  second  than  to  the  noun  itself,  the  hyphen  should  be  used  between  the 
adjectives;  as,  red-haired  boy,  eight-day  clocks,  ten-cent  toys,  six-inch  wheels. 

The  omission  of  the  hyphen  from  these  words  changes  the  meaning  to  a  red 
boy  with  hair,  eight  clocks  each  running  one  day,  ten  toys  each  worth  one  cent, 
six  wheels  each  one  inch  in  size,  etc. 

3.  Sometimes  two  words  of  the  same  part-of-speech  are  connected  by  the 
word  and,  the  three  forming  an   adjective ;  thus,  up-and-down  motion,  cut-and- 
slash  fury.     If  the  two  adjectives  qualify  the  noun  equally,  no  hyphen  is  neces* 
sary.     If  we  speak  of  a  shipping-case,  for  instance,  we  use  a  hyphen,  and  so  in 
retailing-case ;  but  if  both  words,  "  shipping  and  retailing,"  come  before  the 
word  "  case,"  no  hyphen  should  be  used ;  as,  shipping  and  retailing  case. 

4.  A  participial  adjective  coming  before  a  noun,  indicating  the  general  or 
habitual  use  of  the  noun,  should  have  a  hyphen ;  as,  printing-press,  sewing- 
machine.     A  printing  press  is  a  press  which  is  just  now  printing,  but  a  printing- 
press  is  used  for  printing  in  general,  though  at  this  instant  it  may  be  perfectly 
still.     So  with  writing  machine,  writing-machine,  &c.     [See  656  and  2798.  ] 

To  the  above  may  be  added  the  following  specific  statements : 

1.  Two  numerals  expressing  a  compound  number  should  be   united  by  a 
hyphen  ;  as,  twenty-one,  thirty-six,  etc. 

2.  The  word  "  fold,"  when  annexed  to  a  numeral  of  more  than  one  syllable, 
is  separated  from  it  by  a  hyphen ;  as,  twenty-fold,  sixty-fold,  etc.,  but  if  the 
numeral  has  but  one  syllable,  no  hyphen  is  used ;  as,  twofold,  fourfold. 

3.  When  fractions  are  expressed  in  words  instead  of  figures,  ahyphen  should 
separate  the  two  parts  ;  as,  one-half,  three-fourths,  etc. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  175 

4.  The  words  "half"  and  "quarter,"  when  prefixed  to  a  noun,  should  be 
separated  from  it  by  a  hyphen ;  as,  half-dollar,  quarter-pound,  etc. 

5.  Usually,  though  not  always,  when  two  words  are  compounded,  and  each 
one  retains  its  original  accent,  a  hyphen  should  be  used ;  as,  snow-shoe,  All-wise, 
town-hall;  but  if  the  accent  of  one  of  the  words  is  dropped,  the  hyphen  should 
be  omitted ;  as,  railway,  bookkeeper,  typewriter. 

In  dividing  words  at  the  end  of  a  line,  care  should  be  taken  that  the  division 
is  strictly  according  to  syllables ;  that  is,  never  write  part  of  a  syllable  at  the 
end  of  a  line  and  the  remainder  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  line.  Never  place 
the  first  syllable  of  a  word  at  the  end  of  a  line,  when  that  syllable  contains 
but  one  letter ;  neither  should  the  last  syllable,  when  it  consists  of  but  a  single 
letter,  be  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  line.  This  last  rule  includes  final 
syllables  of  two  letters  when  one  of  the  letters  is  silent ;  as,  burned,  passed. 

WORDS  FOR  PRACTICE. 

Write  the  following  words  and  give  reasons  for  using  or  not  using  the  hyphen, 
as  the  case  may  be :  coffee  pot,  type  case,  shell  box,  gold  pen,  silver  casket,  ten 
cent  counters,  two  dollar  hats,  rosy  cheeked  girl,  money  drawer,  hat  box,  hat 
rack,  shaving  soap,  razor  case,  book  case,  well  to  do  farmer,  happy  go  lucky 
fellow,  halfhearted  way,  letter  box,  pen  and  ink  copy,  60  cent  gas,  water  pail, 
out  of  the  way  place,  walking  cane,  fruit  stand,  cake  stand,  pocket  book,  letter 
carrier,  short  hand,  good  bye,  open  faced,  in  door,  out  put,  out  going,  passer 
by,  working  men,  step  son,  man  of  war,  oat  meal. 

320.  The  caret  is  used  to  mark  the  omission  of  a  letter^  a 
word,  or   a   number  of  words.     The  omitted   part  is  generally 
written  above  and  the  caret  shows  where  it  should  be  inserted. 
Examples : 

s  sent 

It  was  an  omision.    I  had  just^a  telegram  to  him. 

of  your  firm, 

If  it  is  not  contrary  to  the  rules  please  ship  the  goods  by  express,  subject 
to  inspection. 

Remark. — The  examples  above  fully  illustrate  the  use  of  the  caret,  but  all 
short  manuscripts  should  be  rewritten  to  supply  omissions. 

321.  Marks  Of   ellipsis. — Sometimes  a  long  dash  ( ),  or  a  succes- 
sion of  stars  (******    *),  or  of  points  ( ),  are  used  to  indi- 
cate the  omission  of  a  portion  of  a  sentence  or  discourse.     "  L/eaders  "  are  a  succes- 
sion of  dots,  used  to  carry  the  eye  to  something  printed  at  a  greater  or  less 
distance  to  the  right. 


176  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

322.  Marks  Of  reference  are  such  as  the  asterisk  (*),  the  dagger  (t), 
section  (§),  parallel  lines  (||),  etc.,  used  to  call  attention  to  some  note  or  remark 
in  the  margin,  at  the  bottom  of  the  page,  or  end  of  the  chapter. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  PUNCTUATION. 

The  importance  of  correct  punctuation  is  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing illustrations: 

John  Quincy  Adams  once  gained  a  lawsuit  involving  $50,000,  the  decision  of 
which  turned  on  the  position  of  a  comma. 

The  Tariff  Act  passed  by  the  XLJId  Congress  provided  that  fruit-plants,  and 
certain  other  commodities,  should  be  admitted  free  of  duty.  In  engrossing  or 
printing  the  Act,  a  comma,  instead  of  a  hyphen,  was  inserted  between  fruit  and 
plants,  consequently,"  all  fruits,"  and  "  all  plants  "  were  put  upon  the  "  free  list," 
and  this  mistake  (if  mistake  it  was)  cost  the  United  States  about  $2,000,000. 
A  special  Act  of  Congress  was  necessary  to  get  rid  of  that  comma. 

Sometimes  ludicrous  mistakes  occur  by  the  misplacing  or 
omission  of  punctuation  marks. 

A  toast  at  a  public  dinner  was,  "  Woman ;  without  her,  man  would  be  a 
savage."  The  next  day  it  appeared  in  print,  "  Woman,  without  her  man,  would 
be  a  savage." 

Punctuate  the  following  lines  so  as  to  make  them  express  a  fact : 

Every  lady  in  the  land  has  twenty  nails  upon  each  hand 
Fiv«  and  twenty  on  hands  and  feet  this  is  true  without  deceit. 


AN  EPITAPH— PUNCTUATE  TO  SUIT. 

He  is  an  old  and  experienced  man  in  vice  and  wickedness  he  is  never  found 
opposing  the  words  of  iniquity  he  takes  delight  in  the  downfall  of  the  neighbors 
he  never  rejoices  in  the  prosperity  of  any  of  his  fellow  creatures  he  is  always 
ready  to  assist  in  destroying  the  peace  of  society  he  takes  no  pleasure  in  serving 
the  Lord  he  is  uncommonly  diligent  in  sowing  discord  among  his  friends  aud 
acquaintances  he  takes  no  pride  in  laboring  to  promote  the  cause  of  Christianity 
he  has  not  been  negligent  in  endeavoring  to  stigmatize  all  public  teachers  he 
makes  no  exertions  to  subdue  his  evil  passions  he  strives  hard  to  build  up 
Satan's  kingdom  he  lends  no  aid  to  the  support  of  the  gospel  among  the  heathen 
he  contributes  largely  to  the  evil  adversary  he  pays  no  attention  to  good  advice 
he  gives  great  heed  to  the  devil  he  will  never  go  to  heaven  he  must  go  where 
be  will  receive  the  just  recompense  of  his  reward. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  177 


CAPITAL  LETTERS. 

323.    Capital  letters  should  be  used — 

1 .  To  begin  every  sentence  and  every  line  of  poetry.  [See  pp.  96-8.] 

2.  To  begin  every  quotation  forming  a  sentence  ;  as — 

Pope  says,  "  Hope  dwells  eternal  in  the  human  breast." 

3.  To  begin  all  words  denoting  the  Deity,  and  words  meaning 
Heaven ;  as — 

Remember  thy  Creator ;  Christ ;  Son  of  God ;  Providence ;  Paradise. 

Note.— It  is  now  customary  to  capitalize  all  personal  pronouns  referring  to  God  or  the 
Saviour;  as,  "  Trust  in  Him  and  He  will  give  you  strength." 

4.  To  write  the  pronoun  I  and  the  interjection  O. 

Note. — O  should  be  used  in  direct  address,  and  oh  in  expressions  of  pain,  pleasure,  surprise. 
The  latter  should  not  be  capitalized  unless  it  begins  a  sentence.    [See  316,  Examples.] 

5.  To  begin  all  proper  nouns.     This  rule  includes — 
(a)     Names  of  persons,  countries,  cities,  towns,  and  streets; 


James  A.  Garfield ;  William  E-  Gladstone  ;  Canada  ;  Asia  ;   Boston  ;   Chicago ;  Main  Street ; 
Euclid  Avenue. 

(b)     Geographical  names  of  oceans,  lakes,  mountains,  rivers,  states,  counties, 
and  regions; 


Atlantic  Ocean  ;  Lake  Erie ;  Hudson  River ;  Green  Mountains ;  Indiana  ;  Monroe  County  ; 
Pacific  Coast ;  the  North  of  Africa  ;  Southern  Ohio. 

Note  /.— The  words  north,  south,  east,  and  west  are  capitalized  when  used  to  refer  to  geo- 
graphical divisions  of  the  country ;  as,  "  The  East  depends  upon  the  West  for  meats  and  bread- 
stuffs."  But  when  these  words  refer  to  points  of  the  compass,  they  are  not  capitalized  ;  as,  "  He 
lives  east  of  here."  "  It  happened  four  miles  north  of  this  place." 

Note  2.— In  geographical  names,  composed  of  proper  and  common  nouns,  such  as  "  New 
York  city,"  "  Ohio  river,"  only  the  first  part  should  be  capitalized,  { unless  the  name  is  used  in 
directing  letters,  etc.,)  because  it  may  be  used  alone.  But  in  such  names  as  "Jersey  City," 
"  White  Mountains,"  both  must  begin  with  capitals,  because  both  are  parts  of  the  name. 

Note  3.— The  words  state  and  territory,  when  they  refer  to  divisions  of  the  United  States, 
should  be  capitalized;  as,  "He  is  a  resident  of  this  State."  "He  was  the  first  governor  of 
Idaho  Territory."  [But  not  in  "church  and  state,"  "state  affairs,"  "  state  rights,"  "Mexico 
ceded  a  large  territory  ( tract )  to  the  United  States."  "  They  erected  a  house  within  their  own 
territory."  ] 

(c)  Names  of  all  organized  bodies  and  companies ;  the  names  of  newspapers, 
magazines,  and  other  publications ;  as — 

The  Odd  Fellows ;  The  Cleveland  Printing  Company ;  Marine  Band ;  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  ;  The  Daily  News ;  The  North  American  Review ;  The  Youth's  Companion. 


178  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

6.  To  begin  titles  of  honor  or  distinction,  and  the  names  of 
city,  county,  state,  and  national  official  bodies  and  departments 
of  the  government ;  as — 

Gen'l  Lew  Wallace ;  Minister  to  Russia ;  City  Council ;  Infirmary  Directors ; 
State  Legislators ;  P.  O.  Department;  Mayor;  Sheriff;  Governor;  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  [But  not  "a  sheriff,"  "a  governor,"  or  "a  justice  of  the  peace,"  etc., 
unless  placed  just  before  the  name ;  as,  "  Sheriff  Ryan ; "  "  Governor  McKinley." 
Neither  should  the  titles  of  officers  of  societies,  railway  companies,  banks,  etc., 
be  capitalized,  unless  immediately  preceding  a  name.  ] 

7.  To  begin  words  used  to  indicate  the  Bible  directly ;  as — 

The  Scriptures ;  Gospel  of  Luke,  etc.  [  But  not  in  "  to  preach  the  gospel," 
"  scriptural  doctrine,"  and  so  forth.] 

8.  To  begin  proper  adjectives  (87  a),  the  names  of  all  relig- 
ious sects,  political  parties,  and  adjectives  derived  from  them  ;  as — 

The  American  people  ;  Baptist ;  the  Methodist  church ;  the  Republican  party. 

9.  To  begin  names  of  things  spoken  of  as  persons,  and  of 
especially  important  things,  events,  or  organized  assemblies  ;  as — 

"  Upon  this,  Fancy  began  to  bestir  herself; "  Declaration  of  Independence  ; 
the  Reformation ;  National  Educational  Association ;  the  International  Christian 
Endeavor  Convention. 

TO.     To  begin  the  names  of  important  buildings  and  localities ; 

The  Public  Library;  the  High  School ;  [but  not  when  spoken  of  in  a  general 
sense;  as,  "our  high  schools"]  Central  Market;  the  East  End;  the  South 
Side  (parts  of  a  city) ;  the  Penitentiary.  [But  not  jail,  prison,  or  post-office,  be- 
cause commonly  spoken  of  in  a  general  sense.] 

ii.  GENERAI,. — In  directing  letters  or  other  mail-matter,  capitalize  all  words 
except  prepositions,  conjunctions,  or  articles,  that  do  not  begin  a  line.  [  This 
rule  applies  also  to  titles  of  books,  essays,  etc.,  though  on  the  title-page  of  books 
the  title  is  usually  printed  entirely  in  capitals.  ]  It  is  allowable  in  writing  sums 
of  money,  especially  in  the  body  of  a  check,  draft,  or  note,  to  use  capitals  to 
begin  all  numerals ;  as,  "  One  Thousand  Four  Hundred  Seventy-five  Dollars." 
However,  this  is  largely  a  matter  of  taste,  and  even  among  bankers  the  usage  is 
not  uniform,  some  capitalizing  only  the  first  word.  In  writing  advertisements, 
it  is  allowable  and  customary  to  capitalize  all  important  words. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  179 


APPROPRIATE  PREPOSITIONS.* 

324.  Abhorrence  of  [not  for].  Abhorrent  to.  You  have  an  abhor- 
rence of  a  thing,  and  you  may  say  it  is  abhorrent  to  you. 

Abound  with,  in.  A  country  abounds  with  game,  and  so  we  say  that  game 
abounds  in  that  country. 

Accommodate  to,  with.  We  accommodate  ourselves  to  circumstances,  or 
we  accommodate  others  with  things  we  have. 

Accompany-ied  by,  with.  One  person  is  accompanied  by  another,  or  he 
is  in  company  with  another.  One  thing  is  accompanied  with  another. 

[In]  accordance  with  [ not  to ].    Accusation  of,  against. 

Accused  of  [not  for  ],  by.  A  person  is  accused  of  doing  a  thing  by  some- 
one who  brings  the  accusation  against  him. 

Acquaint-ed  of,  with.  We  acquaint  ('  inform  ')  a  person  of  the  facts  con- 
cerning a  matter,  after  which  he  is  acquainted  with  the  facts. 

Acquit  of  [not  from}.  A  man  is  acquitted  ('judged  not  guilty')  of  the 
charges  brought  against  him. 

Adapted  to,  for,  from.  A  person  or  thing  may  be  adapted  to  a  certain  work 
or  a  thing  is  adapted  for  a  certain  purpose.  A  piece  is  adapted  from  an  author. 

Adequate  to  [not  for].  A  man's  resources  are,  or  are  not,  adequate 
('equal ')  to  the  demand  Aipon  them. 

Admission  to  an  entertainment ;  of  guilt.  Admit  to,  into  [  not  of].  Your 
ticket  will  admit  you  to  the  concert ;  present  it  at  the  door  and  you  will  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  room  where  the  concert  is  to  be  held. 

Advantage  of,  over.  One  man  takes  advantage  of  a  favorable  opportunity 
to  get  the  advantage  of,  or  to  gain  an  advantage  over  another. 

Admonish  of,  against.  We  admonish  ('remind')  a  person  of  his  duty,  or 
we  may  admonish  ('  warn  ')  him  against  doing  a  thing. 

Advance-d  from,  to  a  certain  place ;  to  within  a  certain  line  or  distance, 
into,  or  in  a  given  territory.  [See  In  for  into,  262%  page  122.] 

Advocate 

measure. 


ocate  of,  for,  also  with.     A  man  may  be  an  advocate  of  or  for  a  certain 
i.     With  is  used  in  the  Scriptures.    [  See  i  John,  u  :  2.  ] 


*To  tlic  Teaclier. — In  this  list,  the  prepositions  given  after  a  word  are  not  in  alt  cases 
the  only  ones  that  may  be  used  with  it. 

By  may  be  used  after  almost  any  verb  to  introduce  an  adverbial  phrase  expressing  the  meth- 
od or  the  agency  by  which  a  thing  is  done,  especially  before  an  active  participle;  as,  for 
instance,  "  He  accommodated  me  by  lending  me  his  watch."  [See  Accused,  above;  also  Dis- 
criminate, p.  182.]  For  also  may  be  used  after  a  great  many  verbs  to  introduce  adverbial 
phrases  of  purpose,  or  reason.  [  For  example,  see  Adapted.  ] 

The  aim  has  been  to  give  those  prepositions  that  are  most  likely  to  be  misused.  Nearly 
all  of  these  have  been  exemplified,  though  the  examples  are  necessarily  brief.  To  make  this 
list  of  the  greatest  possible  benefit  to  the  student,  he  should  be  required  to  construct 
sentences  in  which  these  words  and  their  prepositions  are  used  correctly. 


180  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

325.  Agree  with,  in,  to,  on,  upon,  or  among.  Persons  agree  with  each 
other  in  matters  of  opinion,  and  one  story  or  report  agrees  with  another.  We 
agree  to  proposals  made  by  others,  and  thus  form  contracts.  Persons  agree  on 
or  upon  a  matter,  and  several  persons  may  agree  among  themselves. 

Allied  to,  with.  The  lesser  is  allied  to  the  greater,  or  one  thing  is  allied 
('related')  to  another  by  a  similarity  or  resemblance.  Two  equals  are  allied 
('connected ')  with  each  other.  [See  Connect.  ] 

Alter  from  [  not  to,  except  the  infinitive  ]. 
Ambitious  of,  or  after.    Amuse  with,  at,  or  in. 
Angry  with  persons ;  at  things. 

Apply  to,  at,  for  ;  application  by,  through.  We  apply  to  a  person  ;  at  [  not 
to  ]  a  place ;  for  help  or  information.  We  apply  in  person,  or  make  the  applica- 
tion by  letter  or  through  another  person. 

Appropriate  to  [  not  for  ]. 

Arrive  at,  in,  from.  A  man  arrives  in  this  country  from  London  and  the 
ship  in  which  he  comes  arrives  at  New  York,  at  such  a  time.  A  person  arrives 
at  the  Union  Station  in  Chicago.  [  See  Meet.  ] 

Ask  something  of;  for,  a  thing ;  after  someone  or  something  we  wish  to 
hear  about. 

Astonished  at,  by  [  not  with  ].     Averse  to — infinitive — [  not  from  ]. 

Attend-ed  by,  with,  to,  on,  or  upon.  One  person  is  attended  by  another.  An 
undertaking  is  attended  with  many  difficulties.  A  servant  attends  to  his  duties 
by  attending  on  or  upon  his  master. 

Banish  from  society ;  out  of  a  country. 

Believe  in,  on.  "  To  believe  in  is  to  hold  as  an  object  of  faith.  To  believe  on 
is  to  rest  upon  with  full  confidence." — Campbell.  [See  John  xiv :  i ;  Acts  xiv :  23.] 

Bump  against  [  not  on  ].  One  should  say,  "  I  bumped  my  head  against  the 
post,"  not  on  the  post. 

Burn-ed  [  up  or  down  ]  into.  We  may  say  that  *  the  house  burnt  up?  or 
'burnt  down?  but  in  this  sense  the  words  '  up  '  and  '  down  '  are  adverbs.  "  Up 
and  down  are  intensive  in  the  sense  of  wholly — completely." — Campbell.  The 
letters  were  burned  into  the  wood. 

Capacity  for,  of.  We  say  of  a  person  that  he  has  a  capacity  for  learning; 
but  of  a  vessel  that  it  has  a  capacity  of  so  much,  according  to  some  unit  of  meas- 
urement, usually  a  ton. 

Call  at,  on,  in,  after.  We  call  at  a  house  to  see  a  friend,  and  then  we  say 
that  we  have  called  on  [  not  upon  ]  him.  We  call  a  thing  in  question,  and  we 
call  ( '  name  ' )  a  child  after  some  person. 

Careful  of,  in,  about.  We  should  be  careful  of  that  which  is  left  in  our 
charge,  and  careful  in  or  about  our  words  and  deeds. 

Charge  for,  with,  to,  in,  upon.  A  merchant  charges  you  for  goods  you 
buy.  If  on  credit,  he  may  afterwards  tell  you  that  you  are  charged  with  a  cer- 
tain amount,  or  that  certain  items  were  charged  to  you  in  your  account.  The 
enemy  charged  upon  us. 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  181 


Coincide  with  [  not  to  ].    Collide  with  [  not  against  ]. 


Combine  ZPZ'/£,  ybr,  *»/0  [not  together}.  Persons  combine  a/#A  each  other 
for  a  purpose.  Several  things  are  combined  into  one. 

Communicate  to,  with.  We  communicate  information  or  news  to  another, 
by  mail  or  other  means  of  communication.  If  there  is  a  correspondence  or 
talking  back  and  forth  between  us  and  the  other  person,  we  are  said  to  com- 
municate with  him. 

Compare  with,  in,  to  ;  comparison  with,  between.  One  thing  is  compared 
with  another  in  quality,  or  to  another  for  the  sake  of  illustration.  We  draw 
comparisons  between  things  to  show  their  likeness  or  unlikeness. 

Complain  to,  of.    Complaint  of,  against. 

Comply-iance  with  [not  to}.  We  comply  with  the  request  of  another. 
We  do  a  thing  in  compliance  with  the  order  or  request  of  another. 

Concerned  at,  for,  with,  in,  about.  A  person  may  be  concerned  at  a  re- 
port ;  for  the  safety  of  someone  ;  with  another  person  in  a  matter,  or  in  the 
happiness  of  others  ;  about  something. 

Concur  with,  in.    Persons  concur  with  each  other  in  an  opinion. 

Condole  with,  for,  or  over.  You  should  condole  with  a  friend  for  or  over 
his  loss. 

Confer  with,  persons  ;  upon,  or  about  matters. 

Conform  to,  or  with.  One  thing  is  made  to  conform  ('agree  'or  'fit')  to 
another.  A  man  conforms  himself  to,  or  with  circumstances. 

Connect  with,  to.  One  thing  is  connected  with  another  of  equal  rank  or 
importance  ;  but  to  another  of  greater  importance. 

Consist  of,  in.  A  material  thing  consists  of  the  parts  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed. An  invisible  object  of  thought,  as  life,  a  virtue,  etc.,  consists  in  being, 
or  doing  so  and  so  ;  as,  "  True  happiness  consists  in  making  others  happy." 

Consistent  in,  with.  A  man  is  consistent  in  a  matter,  or  we  may  say,  his 
life  is  not  consistent  with  his  profession. 

"  Show  me  the  man  that  hath  in  him  the  power, 
To  act  consistent  with  himself  an  hour."  —  Pope. 

Contend  with,  against,  for.  We  contend  with  people,  or  with  difficulties 
against  an  obstacle,  for  something  we  want,  or  for  what  we  believe  is  right. 

Contradictory  to  [not  of}.    Contrary  to  [  not  from  nor  than}. 

Contract  with,  to,  between.  We  contrast  one  thing  with  another  of  the 
same  kind.  One  thing  presents  a  contrast  to  another.  We  notice  the  contrast 
('  difference  ')  between  two  things. 

Controversy  with,  between,  about  [  not  over}.  One  person  has  a  controversy 
with  another;  there  is  a  controversy  between  them,  and  the  controversy  is  about 
[not  over}  a  certain  matter. 

Convenient  to,  for.    Convert  to,  into.    Convict  of  [  not  for  ]. 

Copy  after,  from,  out  of.  We  copy  after  persons,  from  a  thing,  out  cf  a 
book. 


182  PLAIN  ENGLISH 

326.  Correspond  with,  to.  Persons  correspond  with  each  other;  things 
correspond  ('  agree/  '  fit/  or  '  answer  ')  to  others. 

Couple  with,  to,  in  [see  Connect]  ;  also,  in  a  certain  way. 

[In]  danger  of  ,  from.  A  man  is  in  danger  of  receiving  harm  from  that 
which  threatens,  or  there  may  be  danger  of  his  doing  thus  and  so  ;  but  he  is  in 
danger  from  [not  of}  the  object  that  threatens  to  harm  him  ;  as,  to  be  in  danger 
from  falling  timbers. 

Date  from,  at.    We  date  a  letter  from  a  place  at  a  certain  time. 

Deal  with,  in,  by.  We  deal  ('  trade  ')  with  a  man  who  deals  in  the  goods  we 
want.  We  should  deal  by  or  with  others  as  we  would  be  dealt  by. 

Defend  from,  against.  A  person  defends  ('protects')  himself  or  another 
from  that  which  threatens  to  attack;  or  he  defends  himself  or  helps  to 
defend  another  against  that  which  has  already  attacked. 

Demand  of,  from.  We  demand  of  a  person  information  or  something  that 
is  invisible  ;  but  we  demand  from  him  a  thing  (visible  object)  which  he  has,  and 
to  which  we  claim  a  right  ;  as,  to  demand  payment  of  a  man,  or  to  demand  from 
him  money  in  payment  of  his  bill. 

Depend  on  or  upon,  or  depend  ('  hang  ')  from.    Deprive  of  [  not  from  ]. 

Desire  of,  for.  We  may  speak  of  the  desire  of  a  man,  and  say  he  has  a  de- 
sire for  a  certain  thing  ;  but  we  should  not  say  that  his  desire  of  wealth  led 
him  to  do  a  thing. 

Die  of,  for,  from;  death  by,  at.  A  person  dies  of  [not  from]  a  disease,  or 
from  the  effects  of  an  injury;  or  he  may  meet  death  by  accident,  as  by  fire,  or  at 
the  hands  of  an  assassin.  A  man  may  sometimes  die  for  the  right,  or  for  the 
object  of  his  love.  [  See  Rom.  v  :  6-8.  ]  One  person  may  die  with  another,  but 
never  with  a  disease  ;  the  disease  doesn't  die.  * 

Differ  from,  among,  about,  concerning  ;  also  with.  Persons  or  things  differ 
from  each  other.  Several  persons  differ  among  themselves  about,  or  concerning 
a  matter.  Two  persons  may  differ  ('  contend/  or  '  quarrel  ')  with  each  other. 

Difference  with  persons  ;  between  things  compared  [  not  in  ]. 
[not  to  nor  than}. 


Disappointed  of,  in.  We  are  disappointed  of  something  we  have  expected 
but  failed  to  get.  We  are  disappointed  in  what  we  get  if  it  does  not  meet  our 
expectation. 

Discriminate  between,  from.  We  discriminate  between  two  things  by  dis- 
criminating one  from  the  other. 

Disgusted  with,  at,  by.  We  are  disgusted  with  someone  or  something,  but 
at  or  by  something  that  has  been  done. 

Dislike  to,  of  [  not  for].    Dissent  from  [  not  to  ]. 

Distinguish-ed  between,  from,  by,  for,  from  among.  We  distinguish  be- 
tween two  things,  or  we  distinguish  one  thing  from  another  by  certain  charac- 
teristics. A  man  may  be  distinguished  for  certain  traits  or  deeds.  From 
among  a  large  number  of  things,  we  distinguish  those  of  a  certain  kind. 

Divide  between  two  ;  among  more  than  two  ;  into  parts. 


PLAIN  ENGLISH  183 

Embark  in  [  not  on  ],  at,  for.    Encroach  on  or  upon. 
EngagO  in,  with,  to.    Enrage  with,  at,  against.     [  See  Angry.  ] 

Enter-ed  in,  into,  on,  or  upon.  We  enter  ( *  record  ' )  a  thing  in  a  book,  on, 
upon,  or  at  a  certain  page.  We  enter  into  agreements  with  persons.  [  See  Put.] 

Entertain-ed  by,  with.  We  are  entertained  by  a  person,  or  with  that  which 
is  provided  for  our  entertainment. 

Entrance  into.    [See  Put.]    Envious  of,  at,  against. 

Equal  to  ;  also  with.  A  thing  or  combination  of  things  is  equal  to  so  much. 
[  See  Adequate.  For  with,  see  John  v :  18.  ] 

Exhausted  by,  with.  We  become  exhausted  with  fatigue,  by  the  effort  or 
work  which  produces  the  fatigue. 

Expect  of,  from.  We  expect  certain  conduct  or  action  of  a  person,  or  we 
expect  some  object,  as  a  present,  from  another. 

Expert  in  knowledge ;  at  work.  When  we  have  reference  more  particularly 
to  a  man's  knowledge  of  a  subject,  a  science,  or  an  art,  we  should  say,  "  He  is 
expert  in  it,"  but  when  referring  to  his  work,  we  should  say,  "  He  is  expert 
at  it." 

Fall  under,  from,  into,  on,  or  upon,  to,  among.  A  thing  may  fall  ( '  come  ' ) 
under  our  notice  ;  from  that  which  holds  or  supports  it,  into  something  that  re- 
ceives it.  A  nut  falls  to  the  ground,  perhaps  among  the  leaves.  A  man  falls  on 
or  upon  the  ice  [  262  9  ],  in  or  into  bad  company.  [  262 7.  ] 

Familiar  to,  with.  Persons  and  objects  are  familiar  to  us,  and  we  are 
familiar  with  them. 

Favorable  for,  to.  The  circumstances  may  be  favorable  for  an  undertak- 
ing, and  so  we  are  favorable  ( '  disposed  to  favor  or  encourage  ' )  to  it. 

Favorite  of,  with.    Followed  by  [not  with]. 

Form-ed  of,  from.  We  form  a  thing  of  that  which  is  different  from  it,  or 
we  form  it  from  something  of  the  same  kind.  "  The  arch  was  formed  ('  made  ') 
of  heavy  timbers."  "  Our  team  was  formed  ( '  made  up  ' )  from  the  other  two." 

Free  from,  in,  with.  We  should  be  free  from  prejudice,  or  anything  that 
is  wrong.  We  should  not  be  too  free  with  our  money,  or  too  free  in  expressing 
our  opinions. 

Friendly  to,  toward,  a  person  or  project ;  with,  as, . "  Persons  are  friendly 
with  each  other." 

Frightened  at  an  object,  by  a  report,  news,  etc. 
Frown  at,  on,  or  upon.    [  See  Smile.  ] 

Good  at,  for.  "  They  are  generally  good  at  flattering  who  are  good  for 
nothing  else." — Southey. 

Graduate-S-d  at,  of,  in,  by  [not  from].  Persons  graduate  at  a  place,  in  a 
certain  class ;  and  they  are  then  graduates  of  the  school  by  which  they  were 
graduated  or  given  their  degrees.  Persons  are  not  graduated  from  a  school. 

Graft  into,  on,  or  upon.  Whether  we  should  say  graft  into,  on,  or  upon,  de- 
pends upon  the  mode  of  grafting.  [  See  Webster  on  grafting.  ] 


184:  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

327.     Grateful  to  a  person  ;  for  a  favor. 

Grieve  at,  that  which  causes  our  grief;  for  that  which  we  have  lost. 

Guilty  of  [not  for}.     Healed  of  [not  from].    Hinder  from  [not  to]. 

Hold  of,  to,  on,  or  upon  ;  also  with. 

Hunger  for  food ;  after  knowledge.     [  See  Thirst.  ] 

Illustrated  by  an  artist ;  with,  or  by  wood-cuts,  etc. 

Impatient  with  persons;  at  that  which  annoys  \  for  something  to  arrive; 
under  misfortune,  disappointment,  or  wrongs. 

Impress-ed  on,  or  upon,  with.  A  thought  is  impressed  on,  or  upon  our 
minds,  or  we  are  impressed  with  the  importance  of  something. 

Incensed  with,  at  [see  Angry],  against  the  person,  if  the  anger  leads  to 
action.  Generally,  against  with  these  words  conveys  the  idea  of  a  third  person 
who  is  stirring  up  the  angry  one. 

Incentive  to  [  not  for].    Infer  from  [  not  by}. 

Incorporate-d  into,  with.  A  thing  is  incorporated  ( '  taken ' )  into  something 
else,  or  several  persons  or  things  are  incorporated  into  one  body.  One  thing 
is  sometimes  incorporated  ( '  combined  ' )  with  another. 

Indifferent  to  [  not  of}.    Indispensable  to  [  not  for}. 

Indulge  (intrans. )  in  something  habitual  (trans.) ;  with  something  to  please 

Influence  [noun]  with,  over,  in,  on.  We  may  have  some  influence  with  a 
person,  without  having  absolute  influence  over  him.  A  man  may  have  an  in- 
fluence in  a  community  and  what  he  does  may  have  an  influence  on  the  lives  of 
others  ;  that  is,  he  influences  [verb  ]  others  to  do  or  to  be. 

Inform-ation  of,  about,  concerning.    [  See  Acquaint.  ] 

Inquire  of,  for,  after,  about,  concerning,  and  sometimes  in.  [See  Acts 
ix :  ii.] 

Insensible  to  that  which  affects,  of  that  which  is  going  on. 
Inseparable  from  [not  to  ]. 

Insert-ed-ion  in,  into.  One  thing  is  inserted  in  another  that  is  different, 
but  into  that  which  is  of  the  same  kind.  Thus  we  insert  an  advertisement  in 
the  paper,  or  we  insert  one  piece  of  wood  into  another. 

Insight  into  [  not  of}.    Inspection  of,  over  [  not  into }. 
Interfere-d  with  plans,  claims,  etc.,  in  a  matter  [not  between}. 
Interspersed  among,  through,  with  [not  by}. 

Introduced  to;  as,  a  speaker  to  an  audience,  or  one  person  to  another; 
into  that  which  is  different;  as,  to  introduce  a  man  into  society  ;  in  a  place;  as 
to  introduce  a  bill  in  Congress.  The  gentleman  should  be  introduced  to  the 
lady. 

Intrust  to,  with.  We  intrust  (or  entrust)  something  to  a  person  when  we 
entrust  or  trust  the  person  with  it. 

Invest  in,  with.  [  Different  meanings  of  "  invest."  ]  We  invest  money  in  a 
thing  for  profit;  we  invest  ('clothe  ')  a  person  with  authority. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  185 

Involved  in  [  not  with  ].  Irritated  by,  at,  against.  [  See  Angry.  } 
Join  to  something  greater ;  with  something  equal.  [  See  Connect.  } 
Killed  by  an  enemy,  or  by  an  accident ;  with  a  sword,  a  pistol  shot,  etc.. 

Lean  against  a  wall,  a  tree,  and  sov  forth ;  on  or  upon  a  staff  or  other  sup- 
port ;  to  or  toward  a  thing. 

Listen  for  a  sound  expected ;  to  a  sound  heard  [not  at~\. 

Live  at  a  definite  place,  as  a  small  city  or  village,  by  a  road,  street,  stream, 
and  so  forth,  or  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  same ;  in  a  country,  a  certain 
part  of  the  country,  or  a  large  city. 

Look  for  a  thing  expected,  or  for  something  lost ;  after  what  is  entrusted 
to  one's  care  ;  into  that  which  we  wish  to  learn. 

Make  of,  from,  out  of,  with,  for. 

Marry-ied.  The  bride  is  married  to  the  bridegroom — the  woman  to  the 
man.  They  may  marry  with  ceremony,  amid  pomp.  [See  41 2.] 

Martyr  for  a  cause  or  principle ;  to  the  malice  of  those  who  put  the  martyr 
to  death. 

Mastery  over  that  which  is  controlled  ;  of  a  subject  of  thought. 
Matter  with  [  not  of}.    Mindful  of  [  not  for  ].    Mixed  with,  in. 
Model  after  a  pattern,  on  a  plan.    Mourn  over  a  loss ;  for  a  friend. 

Name  after,  from  [  not  for  ].  A  person  is  named  after  another,  or  from 
some  circumstance,  or  happening. 

Necessary  to,  for.    Necessity  for,  of.    Need  («.)  of  [not  for]. 

Object  (v.)  to.    Objection  to,  against.    Obtain  of,  from. 

Oblivious  of  [  not  to  ].   Occasion  ( n. )  of,  for  [  not  to  ].    Occupy  by,  with,  in. 

Offense  against  [  not  to  ].    Offended  at,  by,  with.    [  See  Angry.  } 

Opportunity  for.    [  Sometimes  of,  but  better  the  infinitive.  ] 

Opposite  [ to  superfluous ].     Opposition  to  [  not  against}. 

Order  from,  through.  We  order  goods  from  a  certain  place,  and  so  we  may 
order  them  from  [  not  of}  or  through  a  firm  or  person. 

Originate  in,  with,  from  [not  of}.    Overwhelm  by,  with,  in. 

Parallel  with,  to.  Aline  runs  parallel  with  another,  or  one  line  is  parallel  to 
another ;  but  to  say  that  two  lines  are  parallel  to  each  other  is  superfluous. 

Part  from,  with.  To  part  from  is  to  leave ;  to  part  with  is  to  give  up ;  thus, 
to  part  from  a  friend  is  not  the  same  as  to  part  with  him. 

Partake  of;  that  is, '  to  take  part  of.'    [See  Partake,  page  142.  ] 

Patient  with  those  with  whom  we  deal ;  toward  others ;  under  try  ing  circum- 
stances. 

Peculiar  to  [not  from }.     Penetrate  to,  into,  within.     [  See  Advance. } 
Perish  of,  by,  with.     [  See  Die,— death.  J 
Pine  ( or  repine)  at  what  is ;  for  what  is  not. 


186  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 


328. 

I  was 


,     Pleased  with,  at.    "  His  kind  heart  will  be  pleased  with  my  success. n 
pleased  at  the  effect  which  I  produced." — Macaulay. 

Possessed  of  goods  ;  with  or  by  a  notion  or  spirit.     [  See  Acts  xvi :  16.] 
Prefer  to,  above,  before.    Preferable  to  [  not  than  ]. 

Preference  to,  before,  over,  above,  for.  Prejudice  against  [not  to  nor  /or]. 
Present  to,  with.  We  present  a  thing  to  a  person,  a  person  with  something. 
Preside  at  a  meeting ;  over  an  assembly. 

Prevail  on,  upon,  with,  over,  against.  We  prevail  on,  upon,  or  with  ( '  per- 
suade ')  persons.  We  prevail  over  (or  against}  an  obstacle  or  an  enemy. 

Prevent  [  from  ] ;  preventive,  against.  From  after  prevent  is  really  super- 
fluous ;  thus,  "  to  prevent  him  from  doing  it,"  means  "  to  prevent  his  doing  it." 
We  use  preventives  against  evils. 

Prohibit  [from].     From  generally  superfluous.     [ See  Prevent. ] 
Protect  from,  against.    [  See  Defend.  ] 

Provide  with  things  needed;  against  wo.  emergency  or  a  danger. 
Punished  with  some  kind  of  punishment ;  for  misconduct. 
Purge  of  but  better  from.    [  See  Hebrews  ix  114;  2  Peter  xvi :  8.  ] 
[  In  ]  Pursuance  of  [  not  to  ].    Pursuant  to. 

Put  into,  in.  [See  In  for  into,  262  r.J  "With  reference  to  real  entrance,  use 
into  ;  as,  to  put  rn^al  into  a  bag,  money  into  one's  pocket,  into  one's  hand.  With 
reference  to  figurative  ( generally  with  abstract  nouns ) ,  in  is  mostly  used  ;  as,  to 
put  in  action,  in  effect,  in  execution,  in  order,  in  a  passion  ;  also,  in  type,  in 
print." — Campbell. 

Read  in,  from,  out  of,  to.  We  read  in  a  book  for  ourselves,  from  ( or  out  of} 
the  bookybr  ( or  to }  others. 

Receive  from  [  not  of}.    Recite  from,  out  of.     [  See  Read.  ] 

Reconcile-d  to  ('to  make  peace');  with  ('to  make  consistent') — See 
Matthew  v :  24. 

Reduce  to  a  certain  state  or  condition  ;  under  subjection. 

[  In  ]  Reference  to  [  not  of]. 

Regard  for  [  in  or  with  ] ;  regard  to  [  but  not  in  regard  of]. 

Rejoice  at  what  takes  place  ;  with  persons  ;  in  personal  qualities. 

Rely  on  or  upon  [  not  in  ].     Remedy  for  [  but  "  preventive  "  against  ]. 

Remonstrate  with  persons,  against  proceedings. 

Repent  of  [  not  for  ].    Reproach  witht  for.    Resemblance  to  [  not  with}. 

Respect  for,  to  [  not  in  ].  We  have  respect  for  person.  We  speak  in  respect 
to  ( or  with  respect  to}  a  matter.  [  See  Regard.  ] 

Reward-ed  for,  with.  "  Montague  was  rewarded  by  the  Iting/or  his  services 
with  the  place  of  Chancellor." — Campbell. 

Search  for  (or  after)  a  person  or  something  lost;  out  the  truth;  also 
search  ( '  inquire  ' )  into  particulars. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  187 

Secure  from,  against.  We  secure  a  thing  from  a  person,  but  persons  or 
things  are  made  secure  against  attack  or  calamity.  "  My  fortune  is  tolerably 
secure  against  any  but  a  great  public  calamity." — Macaulay. 

Seek.     [  See  Search.  ]     Seized  by  a  person  or  an  enemy  ;  with  sickness. 
Sell  for  a  price  ;  by  subscription,  or  by  [not  at~\  auction. 

Share  in,  of,  with.  We  share  ( '  take  part ' )  in  a  matter ;  receive  a  share  of 
a  thing ;  or  share  ( '  divide  ' )  it  with  someone  else. 

Sick  of  an  undertaking — ( figurative ) ;  with  a  disease,  as  a  fever.  Formerly 
of.  [  See  Mark  1 : 30.  ] 

Similar  to  [  not  with  ].    Similarity  to,  between,  of  [  not  with  ]. 
Smile  at  that  which  amuses  ;  on  ( or  upon  )  persons. 

Speak  to  a  person  or  an  audience  ;  with  a  person,  on  ( or  upon )  or  about  a 
matter. 

Strive  with  or  against  a  person  or  a  thing  that  opposes ;  for  that  which  is  to 
be  obtained. 

Suited  witht  to.    Persons  are  suited  with  things  ;  things,  to  purposes. 
Surprised  at,  by,  or  with.     Surround-ed  by  or  with.     [  By  is  used  after  a 
passive  verb-phrase ;  wilht  when  the  verb  has  an  object.  ] 

Sympathy — Sympathize  with,  for,  between,  among.  We  sympathize  with 
a  man  in  his  misfortune  or  distress,  and  so  we  have  sympathy  ('pity')  for  a 
person  who  has  been  unfortunate.  When  two  are  in  sympathy  with  each  other, 
there  is  sympathy  between  them.  Several  persons  may  have  "sympathy  among 
themselves. 

Talk  to  a  person  or  an  audience  ;  of  or  about  things ;  with  persons  who  talk 
with  us  over  ( or  about )  a  matter. 

Thirst  for  something  to  drink ;  after  knowledge.     Trust  to,  in  [  not  on]. 

[  In  ]  Unison  with  [  not  to  ] ;    [  At  ]  Variance  with  [  not  to  ]. 

Vexed  with  persons  ;  at  what  has  happened. 

View  of,  to.    In  view  of,  and  with  a  view  to;  also  with  the  view  of. 

Wait  for  that  which  is  coming  ;  wait  ( '  call  ' )  on  a  person. 

Want  of  (from ) ,  with.  We  may  want  something  of  ( ' from ' )  a  person,  or  we 
may  be  in  want  of  something  needful. 

Weary  of,  with,  in.  We  may  become  weary  of  (  or  with )  that  which  causes 
much  exertion  ;  but  we  should  never  be  "  weary  in  well  doing." — Gal.  vi  :  9. 

Write  from  a  place,  from  choice,  from  necessity ;  down  what  we  hear ; 
write  ( or  *  fill ' )  out  a  check  or  an  agreement. 

Yoked  with  a  similar  or  equal  thing;  to  something  different  or  greater. 
[  See  Connect  ] ;  also  together  with.  [  See  2  Cor.  vi :  14.  ] 


188 


PLAIN    ENGLISH. 


329. 


LIST  OF  IRREGULAR  VERBS. 

[  Those  marked  with  an  r  have  also  the  regular  form.  ] 


Present  T.      Past  T.      Perfect  Part. 

Present  T. 

Past  T. 

Perfect  Part. 

Abide 

abode 

abode 

Clothe 

clad,  r 

clad,  r 

Arise 

arose 

arisen 

Come 

came 

come 

Awake 

awoke,  r 

awaked 

Cost 

cost 

cost 

Be  or  am 

was 

been 

Creep 

crept 

crept 

Bear 

bore 

borne 

Crow 

crew,  r 

crowed 

Beat 

beat 

beaten 

Cut 

cut 

cut 

Begin 

began 

begun 

Dare 

durst,  r 

dared 

Bend 

bent,  r 

bent,  r 

Deal 

dealt,  r 

dealt,  r 

Bereave 

bereft,  r 

bereft,  r 

Dig 

dug,  r 

dug,  r 

Beseech 

besought 

besought 

Dive 

dove,  r 

dived 

Bet 

bet 

bet 

Do 

did 

done 

Bless 

blest,  r 

blest,  r 

Draw 

drew 

drawn 

Bid 

bid  or  bade 

bid  [den] 

Dream 

dreamt,  r 

dreamt,  r 

Bind 

bound 

bound 

Dress 

drest,  r 

drest,  r 

Bite 

bit 

bit  [ten] 

Drink 

drank 

drunk 

Bleed 

bled 

bled 

Drive 

drove 

driven 

Blend 

blent,  r 

blent,  r 

Dwell 

dwelt,  r 

dwelt,  r 

Blow 

blew 

blown 

Eat 

ate 

eaten 

Break 

broke 

broken 

Fall 

fell 

fallen 

Breed 

bred 

bred 

Feed 

fed 

fed 

Bring 

brought 

brought 

Feel 

felt 

felt 

Build 

built,  r 

built,  r 

Fight 

fought 

fought 

Burn 

burnt,  r 

burnt,  r 

Find 

found 

found 

Burst 

burst 

burst 

Flee 

fled 

fled 

Buy 

bought 

bought 

Fling 

flung 

flung 

Cast 

cast 

cast 

Fly 

flew 

flown 

Catch 

caught 

caught 

Forget 

forgot 

forgotten 

Chide 

chid 

chid  [den] 

Forgive 

forgave 

forgiven 

Choose 

chose 

chosen 

Forsake 

forsook 

forsaken 

f  cleft,  r 

cleft,  r 

Freeze 

froze 

frozen 

Cleave 

I  clove 

cloven 

Get 

got 

got  [ten] 

Cling 

clung 

clung 

Gild 

gilt,  r 

gilt,  r 

Note  z. — Of  the  twenty-five  verbs  that  have  the  same  form  in  the  past  as  in  the  present,  knit, 
quit,  whet,  and  sweat,  are  sometimes  given  the  regular  ending1,  ed.  The  word  spit  formerly  had 
spat  for  its  past  form.  Read  changes  the  vowel  sound  for  its  past. 

Note  2.— Several  verbs,  usually  regular,  are  often  given  an  irregular  form  ending  with  t. 
The  principal  ones  are:  (a)  A  few  ending  in  ss ;  as,  bless,  blest,  or  blessed,-  (b)  Others  end- 
ing with  /,  n,  or  p  ;  as,  spell,  learn,  leap ;  (c)  Some  ending  in  d  following  /,  n,  or  r ;  as,  build, 
bend,  gird.  Verbs  which  have  both  regular  and  irregular  forms  are  said  to  be  "  redundant." 


PLAIN   ENGLISH. 


181 


Present  T. 

PastT. 

Perfect  Part. 

Present  T. 

Past  T. 

Perfect  Part. 

Gird 

girt,  r 

girt,  r 

Mistake 

mistook 

mistaken 

Give 

gave 

given 

Mow 

mowed 

mown,  r 

Go 

went 

gone 

Pay 

paid 

paid 

Grave 

graved 

graven,  r 

Plead 

pled,  r 

pled,  r 

Grind 

ground 

ground 

Put 

put 

put 

Grow 

grew 

grown 

Quit 

quit,  r 

quit,  r 

Hang 

hung,  r 

hung,  r 

Rap 

rapt,  r 

rapt,  r 

Have 

had 

had 

Read 

read 

read 

Hear 

heard 

heard 

Rend 

rent 

rent 

Heave 

hove,  r 

hoven,  r 

Rid 

rid 

rid 

Hew 

hewed 

hewn,  r 

Ride 

rode 

ridden 

Hide 

hid 

hidden 

Ring 

rang 

rung 

Hit 

hit 

hit 

Rise 

rose 

risen 

Hold 

held 

held 

Rive 

rived 

riven,  r 

Hurt 

hurt 

hurt 

Run 

ran 

run 

Keep 

kept 

kept 

Saw 

sawed 

sawn,  r 

Kneel 

knelt,  r 

knelt,  r 

Say 

said 

said 

Knit 

knit,  r 

knit,  r 

See 

saw 

seen 

Know 

knew 

known 

Seek 

sought 

sought 

Lade 

laded 

laden,  r 

Seethe 

sod,  r 

sodden,  r 

Lay 

laid 

laid 

Sell 

sold 

sold 

Lead 

led 

led 

Send 

sent 

sent 

Leave 

left 

left 

Set 

set 

set     ' 

Lean 

leant,  r 

leant,  r 

Shake 

shook 

shaken 

Leap 

leapt,  r 

leapt,  r 

Shape 

shaped 

shape  n,  r 

Learn 

learnt,  r 

learnt,  r 

Shear 

sheared 

shorn,  r 

Lend 

lent 

lent 

Shave 

shaved 

shaven,  r 

Let 

let 

let 

Shed 

shed 

shed 

Lie 

lay 

lain 

Shine 

shone,  r 

shone,  r 

Light 

lit,  r 

lit,r 

Shoe 

shod 

shod 

Lose 

lost 

lost 

Shoot 

shot 

shot 

Make 

made 

made 

Show 

showed 

shown,  r 

Mean 

meant 

meant 

Shrink 

shrank 

shrunk  [en] 

Meet 

met 

met 

Shred 

shred 

shred 

Note  3.— Hang,  meaning  to  kill,  is  regular ;  as,  "  They  hanged  the  murderer." 

Note  4. — Verbs  whose  perfect  participles  are  formed  by  adding  n  or  en  to  the  present  or  past 
forms  or  to  neither,  are  called  strong  verbs,  and  are  said  to  belong  to  the  "  old  "  or  "  strong  " 
conjugation  in  contradistinction  to  the  "  weak  "  or  "  new  "  conjugation.  To  the  latterbelong 
all  regular  verbs  and  all  irregular  verbs  except  those  that  change  the  vowel  but  take  no  added 
ending  for  the  past  form.  These  last  belong  to  the  strong  conjugation. 

Examples  of  "  strong  "  conjugation :    Arise,  drive,  fly,  sing,  blow,  forget. 

Examples  of  "  weak  "  conjugation  :    Bend,  bring,  feel,  lean,  leap. 

Remark. — Some  verbs  belong  to  both  conjugations  ;  as,  hew,  grave,  shave. 

A  few  strong  verbs  double  the  final  consonant  in  taking  the  suffix  en  ;  as,  bid,  hide,  write. 


190 

PLAIN 

ENGLISH. 

Present  T. 

PastT. 

Perfect  Part. 

Present  T. 

Past  T. 

Shut 

shut 

shut 

Stride 

strode 

Sing 

sang 

sung 

String 

strung 

Sink 

sank 

sunk 

Strive 

strove 

Sit 

sat 

sat 

Strew 

strewed 

Slay 

slew 

slain 

Swear 

swore 

Sleep 

slept 

slept 

Sweat 

sweat,  r 

Slide 

slid 

slid  [den] 

Sweep 

swept 

Sling 

slung 

slung 

Swell 

swelled 

Slink 

slunk 

slunk 

Swim 

swam 

Slit 

slit 

slit 

Swing 

swung 

Smell 

smelt,  r 

smelt,  r 

Take 

took 

Smite 

smote 

smitten 

Teach 

taught 

Sow 

sowed 

sown,  r 

Tear 

tore 

Speak 

spoke 

spoken 

Tell 

told 

Speed 

sped 

sped 

Think 

thought 

Spell 

spelt,  r 

spelt,  r 

Thrive 

throve,    r 

Spend 

spent 

spent 

Throw 

threw 

Spill 

spilt,  r 

spilt,  r 

Thrust 

thrust 

Spin 

spun 

spun 

Tread 

trod 

Spit 

spit 

spit 

Wake 

woke,  r 

Split 

split 

split 

Wax 

waxed 

Spoil 

spoilt,  r 

spoilt,  r 

Wear 

wore 

Spread 

spread 

spread 

Weave 

wove 

Spring 

sprang 

sprung 

Wed 

wed,  r 

Stand 

stood 

stood 

Weep 

wept 

Stave 

stove,  r 

stove,  r 

Wet 

wet,  r 

Steal 

stole 

stolen 

Whet 

whet,  r 

Stick 

stuck 

stuck 

Win 

won 

Sting 

stung 

stung 

Wind 

wound 

Stink 

stunk 

stunk 

Work 

wrought,  r 

Strike 

struck 

f  struck 

Wring 

wrung 

I  stricken 

Write 

wrote 

Perfect  Part. 

stridden 

strung 

striven 

strewn,  r 

sworn 

sweat,  r 

swept 

swollen,  r 

swum 

swung 

taken 

taught 

torn 

told 

thought 

thriven,  r 

thrown 

thrust 

trod  [den] 

woke,  r 

waxen,  r 

worn 

woven 

wed.  r 

wept. 

wet,  r 

whet,  r 

won 

wound 

wrought,  r 

wrung 

written 

330.  Defective  Verbs. — The  following  irregular  verbs  are  lacking 
(deficient)  in  one  or  more  of  their  principal  parts  ( 163).  None  of  them  have  a 
passive  participle  form.  Such  verbs  are  called  "  defective." 

Present.  Past.  Present.  Past. 


Begone 

Beware 

Can 

May 

Must 


could 
might 


ought 

Future 

shall 

will 


quoth 

should 
would 


APPENDIX 

NOTES,  QUOTATIONS,  AND  COMMENTS. 


331.  Parts  of  Speech  (5*).— It  should  be  distinctly  understood,  at 
the  very  outstart  of  our  study  of  the  English  language,  that  the  classifying  of 
words  into  "  parts  of  speech "  is  for  the  sake  of  convenience  in  considering 
their  functions  in  the  unit  of  speech — the  sentence ;  and  that  owing  to  the 
flexibility  of  our  language,  any  attempt  at  defining  these  classes  of  words  must 
be  more  or  less  unsatisfactory,  especially  to  an  inquiring  mind. 

To  use  the  statement  made  by  Dr.  Abbott,  "  The  fundamental  princi- 
ple of  English  grammar  may  be  stated  with  little  exaggeration  as  being  this, 
that  any  word  may  be  used  as  any  part  of  speech." 

(a)  In  one  of  his  trenchant  articles  on  English  "  grammar,"  so  called,  Mr. 
Richard  Grant  White  says :  "  One  trait  of  the  English  language  is  the-  great 
flexibility,  not  to  say  looseness,  of  its  structure  in  regard  to  what  are  called  the 
parts  of  speech.  In  this  respect  it  is  as  in  others,  nearly  unique  among  the 
languages  of  the  civilized  world.  English  may  almost  be  said  to  have  no  dis- 
tinctive parts  of  speech.  This  is  a  strong  putting  of  the  case,  I  admit;  but  it 
expresses  the  truth  more  nearly  than  it  could  be  expressed  without  a  long  and 
carefully-elaborated  statement.  The  principal  parts  of  speech  are  the  noun, 
the  verb,  the  adjective,  and  that  peculiar  sort  of  word  which  by  grammarians 
has  been  strangely  called  the  pronoun.  .  .  .  Now,  the  fact  is  that  these 
principal  parts  of  speech  are  so  interchangeable  in  our  mother  tongue  that  they 
can  hardly  be  said  to  be  distinguished  from  each  other. 

In  English,  almost  any  simple  noun  may  be  used  as  a  verb  without  change  in 
its  form ;  and  in  like  manner  almost  any  verb  may  be  used  as  a  noun.  Nouns 
are  used  as  adjectives,  and  adjectives  as  nouns.  Pronouns  may  be  used,  and  are 
used,  as  nouns,  as  adjectives,  and  even  as  verbs.  We  wire  a  message,  we  table  a 
resolution,  we  foot  our  way  home,  a  hunter  trees  a  bear,  a  broker  bears  stock  or 
bulls  it,  the  merchant  ships  his  goods,  the  hypocrite  cloaks  his  sins  with  acted 
falsehood,  the  invalid  suns  himself,  the  east  wind  clouds  the  sky. 

We  thus  constantly  use,  and  for  centuries  have  used,  as  verbs,  words  whicb 

*  Figures  in  parenthesis  refer  to  paragraphs. 


193  PLAIN  ENGLISH. 

originally  were  nouns.  On  the  other  hand,  we  speak  of  the  run  of  a  ship,  of  a 
great  haul  of  fish,  of  a  horse  coming  in  on  the  jump,  of  a  man  being  on  the  go, 
of  a  great  rush  of  people,  of  the  push  of  business,  of  the  thrust  of  the  rafters 
of  a  house,  of  the  spring  and  fall,  and  so  on,  using  verbs  as  nouns.  We  can 
not  speak  of  the  right  and  the  wrong,  the  good  and  the  bad,  the  strong  and  the 
weak,  without  using  adjectives  as  nouns ;  for  the  pretense  of  the  elder  gram- 
marians that  a  qualified  noun  is  understood  in  these  cases  is  unfounded,  and 
was  made  only  for  the  sake  of  keeping  up  the  make-believe  of  grammar. 

And  as  to  using  nouns  as  adjectives,  we  cannot  speak  of  a  gold  watch,  an  iron 
bar,  a  bar-room,  a  carpet-bag,  a  carpet  knight,  a  brick  house,  a  stone  bridge,  or 
a  windmill,  without  doing  that.  It  is  the  commonest  conversion  of  parts  of 
speech.  We  could  hardly  communicate  in  English  without  it.  When  we  say 
a  brew-house,  a  wash-house,  or  a  turn-stile,  we  use  verbs  as  adjectives.  As  to 
pronouns,  '  he '  and  '  she  '  are  constantly  used  as  adjectives,  as,  a  he  goat,  a  she 
animal.  Shakespeare  uses  "  thou  "  as  a  verb :  *  If  thou  thou'st  him,'  that  is, 
if  thou  say'st  "  thou  "  to  him ;  and  we  nowadays  say  that  Friends  "  thee  and 
thou  "  us.  Indeed,  this  convertibility  of  the  parts  of  speech  is  so  characteris- 
tic of  the  Knglish  language  that  I  found  this  sentence  in  a  I^ondon  magazine  : 
'  Here  are  the  whereons  to  make  your  fortune,'— an  adverb  being  used  as  a 
noun." — Every-Day  English^  p.  295. 

(b)  The  gist  of  the  matter  is  that  the  genius  of  our  language  is  such  that 
there  are  but  comparatively  few  of  its  words  that  we  may  label  with  grammatical 
names  and  say  that  they  always  belong  to  such  and  such  a  part-of-speech. 
Hence  it  is  we  say  that  a  classification  of  words  according  to  what  they  doy  and 
an  attempt  to  define  these  classes,  will  prove  to  be  more  or  less  unsatisfactory. 
We  shall  constantly  find  that  words  which  according  to  one  definition  belong 
to  one  part-of-speech  ( as,  for  instance,  a  noun  or  a  preposition )  are  doing  the 
work  which,  according  to  another  definition,  belongs  to  some  other  part-of- 
speech.    That  is  to  say,  words  seem,  at  times,  to  have  a  double  function ;  ex- 
amples of  such  are  adverbial  nouns,  relative  pronouns,  etc.     [See  109,  119.] 

(c)  Not  a  little  of  the  inaccuracy  of  grammatical  definitions  has  resulted 
from  incorrect  terms   to  begin  with.     For  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  suf- 
ficiently interested  in  our  mother-tongue  to  enjoy  a  critical  study  of  it,  some 
of  the  inaccuracies  and  the  incorrectness  of  terms,  above  referred  to,  are  dis- 
cussed in  the  following  notes. 

332.  Verbs  (55). — Verbs  usually  assert  one  of  three  things :  I.  Action 
(or  'doing')  ;  as,  "  I  walk"  "  God  loves  /"  2.  Existence  (or  'being') ;  as,  "  We 
are"  "God  is;"  3.  Possession  (or 'having')  ;  as,  "Wete/<?,"  "He^as." 

(a)  Verbs  are  also  used  to  ask  questions  and  to  express  commands;  as, 
"Will  you  go?"  [You]  "Come."     Surely  the  coming  and  going  are  not  here 
asserted.     (56.) 

(b)  By  changing  the  form  of  a  verb  and  using  it  in  a  peculiar  way  we  cause 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  193 

it  simply  to  assume  the  action,  existence  or  possession,  or  to  name  these  things 
without  asserting  them.  Verbs  used  in  this  way  have  by  some  been  classified 
as  separate  parts  of  speech — participles  and  infinitives.  We  do  not  consider 
such  a  classification  essential  (indeed  it  is  not  so  regarded  by  any  recent  author) 
and  have  treated  the  participles  as  forms  of  the  verb,  and  the  infinitives  as 
phrases,  both  having  certain  peculiar  uses.  (164,  190-4;  also  365.) 

333.  Phrases    (10). — A  phrase  is  a  combination  of  two  or  more  words 
(not  including  a  subject),  having  in  a  sentence  the  office  or  value  of  a  single 
part  of  speech  and  capable  of  being  parsed  as  such. —  Whitney's  Essentials  oj 
English  Grammar. 

(a)  With  the  verb-phrases  maybe  classed  many  idiomatic  expressions,  such 
as,  "  The  fire  went  out"  or  "  was  put  out"  "He  will  not  give  up"  On  this 
point,  Professor  Sill  says :  [  "  Practical  Lessons,"  p.  149,  foot-note.  ] 

"  Any  group  of  words  whose  relations  to  each  other  are  obscure  and  difficult 
to  determine,  and  which,  taken  together,  do  the  work  of  a  verb,  may  properly 
and  conveniently  be  called  a  verb-phrase.  This  definition  includes  several 
groups  of  words  which  the  grammarians  usually  take  good  care  to  avoid,  on  ac- 
count of  the  difficulties  which  they  present.  I  believe  it  to  be  quite  in  the 
direction  of  simplicity  and  good  sense  to  regard  even  expressions  like  the  fol- 
lowing as  verb-phrases,  and  to  make  no  attempt  with  beginners  to  analyze  them, 
or  to  parse  the  words  separately : 

i.  He  gets  excited  over  trifling  annoyances.  2.  I  am  going  to  write  you  a  letter.  3.  I  get  up 
at  six  every  morning.  4.  The  matter  should  be  attended  to.  5.  The  poor  must  be  taken  care  of." 

Professor  Whitney  says:  ["Essentials  of  Eng.  Gram.,"  p.  126.]  "It  is  im- 
possible to  draw  any  absolute  line  between  such  verb-phrases  as  have  been  set 
forth  and  named  above  and  those  yet  looser  and  more  accidental  combinations 
into  which  words  enter  in  sentences,  in  order  to  limit  and  define  an  action  in 
still  other  ways,  as  regards  time  and  manner. 

Thus,  one  might  prefer  to  class  as  futures,  phrases  like  these  : 

I  am  going  to  give  ;  I  am  about  to  give ;  I  am  on  the  point  of  giving." 

334.  Pronouns    (n). — "A  pronoun  isaword  used  instead  of  a  noun." 
Professor  Sill  gives  this  definition  in  his  "  Practical  Lessons  in  English,"  and 
then  in  a  foot-note,  adds :     "  Perhaps  the  following  definition  would  be  better 
than  the  time-honored  one  given  above:    A  pronoun  is  a  word  that  represents 
an  object  without  naming  it" 

(a)  We  are  not  to  think  of  this  part-of-speech  as  including  only  what  are 
called  personal,  relative,  and  interrogative  pronouns,  for  there  is  a  large  class 
of  words,  numerals,  demonstratives,  and  indefinites,  particularly  the  latter,  that 
often  as  truly  represent  objects  without  naming  them  as  do  7,  we,  he,  they,  who, 
it,  etc.     (83,84.) 

( b )  In  speaking  of  words  that  have  lost  their  individuality,  Samuel  Ram- 
sey says :     "  Among  the  most  important  of  those  words  that  have  no  individu- 


194  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

ality  now  are  the  Pronouns.  The  name  means  standing  for  or  representing 
nouns ;  and  there  is  no  possible  noun  for  which  some  of  them  may  not  be  used. 
Hence,  the  pronoun  has  been  termed  a  name  for  everything.  Associated  with 
them  are  some  words  which,  not  in  signification  but  in  grammatical  use,  par- 
take of  the  character  of  adjectives.  They  sometimes  take  the  place  of  nouns 
and  sometimes  accompany  them."  Again,  the  same  author  says,  "  There  are,  no 
doubt,  words  now  losing  their  individuality,  and  sinking  into  the  condition  of 
being  '  names  of  everything.*  As  an  example  of  this  kind,  Professor  Earle  in- 
stances the  word  thing.  There  is  certainly  no  object  in  nature  or  art  to  which 
it  is  more  appropriate  than  to  another.  Originally  it  signified  a  public  assembly 
bearing  some  analogy  to  a  town  meeting."  ( 83  a. ) 

(c)  In  a  chapter  on  this  subject,  Mr.  White  shows  that  pronouns  are  proba- 
bly the  oldest  and  certainly  the  least  changeable  part-of-speech  we  have.  He 
further  shows  that  the  idea  that  "  a  pronoun  is  a  word  that  stands  for  a  noun  or 
an  ordinary  name,"  or  as  "one  that  points  out  some  person  or  thing  that  has 
been  named  before  "  is,  in  part  at  least,  erroneous.  He  quotes  Buttman  as  say- 
ing, "  That  pronouns  cannot  be  so  precisely  defined  as  not  to  admit  many  words 
which  may  also  be  regarded  as  adjectives,"  and  then  adds  :  "  This  is  only  a  part 
of  the  confusion  which  reigns  in  grammar.  For  the  very  grammarians  cannot 
agree  among  themselves  as  to  the  limits  between  nouns  and  adjectives,  so  that 
some  of  them  compromise  the  matter  by  making  two  classes — nouns  substan- 
tive and  nouns  adjective.  The  truth  upon  this  subject  is  that  the  so-called 
pronoun,  instead  of  being  a  make-shift,  a  convenience  to  prevent  confusion  and 
monotony,  a  sort  of  appendix  and  auxiliary  to  an  already  developed  vocabulary, 
is"  the  noun  of  nouns,  the  word  of  words,  the  most  important,  the  most  radical, 
the  most  ineradicable  element  of  language." — Every-Day  English,  pp.  326-28. 

335.  Adjective  ( 15). — This  is  the  usual  explanation  of  the  term  "  adjec- 
tive," and  the  definition  given  ( 15  b)  is,  in  substance,  the  one  commonly  met 
with.    This  definition  includes  nouns  and  pronouns  in  the  possessive  case.    The 
word  '  adjective  '  is  from  adject,  which  means  ( see  Webster )  '  to  throw  to,' '  to 
add  to.'     Hence,  words  '  thrown  to,'  or  '  added  to '  other  words  to  modify  them. 
Since  adverbs  are  as  truly  adjected  ( '  thrown,  or  added  to  ' )  the  verb,  etc.,  as  our 
so-called  adjectives,  the  term  "  adjective  "  is  not  strictly  a  significant  one.     Ad- 
nominal  would  have  been  a  more  significant  name ;  that  is,  a  word  added  to 
a  noun  ( '  nominal ' )  or  pronoun. 

336.  Adverb  (19)  is  not  strictly  a  significant  term,  but  since  the  princi- 
pal use  of  this  class  of  words  is  to  modify  a  verb  direct  (the  qualifying  of  ad- 
jectives and  other  adverbs  being  but  a  small  part  of  their  work),  it  maybe 
admitted  as  probably  the  best  term  for  the  purpose. 

( a )  The  principal  objection  to  the  usual  definition  of  the  adverb,  namely, 
that  it  is  "  a  word  used  to  qualify  or  limit  the  meaning  of  a  verb,"  etc.,  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  includes  too  much.  For  does  not  the  object  of  every  transitive 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  195 

verb  limit)  qualify ',  or  modify  the  meaning  of  that  verb  ?  To  illustrate :  *'  That 
man  drinks — coffee."  No  one  will  undertake  to  say  that  the  noun  "  coffee  "  has 
not  here  a  limiting  or  qualifying  effect  on  the  meaning  of  the  verb  drinks. 

( b )  Professor  Sill  gives  the  following  definition  :    "  An  adverb  is  a  word  used 
to  modify  the  meaning  of  any  word  except  a  name  word  "  [  nouns  and  pronouns  ]. 
This  is  a  good  definition,  since  an  adverb  may  qualify  a  preposition  or  a  con- 
junction.    (354.) 

(c)  Again,  the  definition  includes  nouns  denoting  time,  distance,  direction, 
measure  or  value.    To  say  that  a  noun  in  such  cases  is  the  "  object  of  a  preposi- 
tion understood,"  or  that  it  is  "in  the  objective  case  without  a  governing  word," 
is  a  part  of  the  "  make-believe  "  with  which  our  English  grammars  have  hereto- 
fore been  filled.     The  fault  lies  in  the  definition  of  adverbs,  and  not  in  calling 
nouns  used  in  this  way  adverbial  nouns,  or  as  by  Abbott  and  Whitney,  "  adver- 
bial objectives."     [See  373.] 

337.  Preposition  (26),  frompre-,  'before,'  and  posit,  'placed.'    True, 
this  is  accepted  as  meaning  "placed  before  "  the  principal  word  (a  noun  or  some 
substantive)  in  the  phrase  ;  but  the  term  is  faulty  since  it  is  just  as  applicable 
to  all  other  words  in  the  sentence  ( except  the  last),  each  of  them  being  '  placed 
before'  some  other  word. 

(a)  Dr.  Abbott  objects  to  the  usual  definition  of  a  preposition, — "a  word 
that  shows  the  relation  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  to  some  other  word  in  the  sen- 
tence." Regarding  this  definition,  he  says :  "  It  seems  to  me  of  little  use  even 
for  clever  children  and  of  great  harm  to  dull  ones.  I  confess  further,  for  my 
part,  I  should  have  thought  that  in  the  sentence  '  Thomas  protects  John,' 
Thomas  stands  in  the  relation  of  a  protector  to  John,  so  that  "  protects  "  shows 
the  relation  between  '  Thomas '  and  'John '  and  is,  therefore,  according  to  this 
definition,  a  preposition." 

338.  The  term  prepositional  phrase  has  long  been  loosely  employed 
to  denote  both  adjectival  ( ajfek-tiv-al )  and  adverbial  phrases  beginning  with  a 
preposition  ;  and  it  is  not  only  a  loose  term,  but  an  incorrect  one.     A  "  preposi- 
tional phrase"  (or,  properly,  preposition-phrase}  is  a  phrase  of  two  or  more 
words  used  as  a  single  preposition.    [753 ;  also  see  Webster.] 

339.  Conjunctions  ( 29).— A  term  that  includes  the  relative  pronouns  as 
well  as  certain  adverbs.     But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  relatives  have  another 
office  to  fill  (119),  and  this  is  true  also  to  an  extent  of  the  conjunctive  adverbs 
which  have  a  modifying  force  aside  from  their  office  as  connectives. 

340.  Interjections  (31). — "The  name  interjection  signifies  something 
that  is  interjected,  or  'thrown  into  the  midst  of  something  else ;  and  this  some- 
thing else  is  the  sentence  as  made  up  of  the  other  parts  of  speech.     Calling 
them  thus,  then,  implies  that  they  are  not  of  the  sentence  itself;  they  are  not 
put  together  with  other  parts  to  make  up  sentences.    And  this  is  in  fact  the 


196  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

case.  Hence,  though  it  is  proper  enough,  because  convenient,  to  call  the  inter- 
jection a  part-of-speech,  they  are  not  in  the  same  sense  as  the  others.  Each  in- 
terjection is,  in  a  certain  way,  an  undivided  sentence,  put  in  the  language  oi 
feeling  rather  than  in  that  of  reason." — Essentials  of  English Grammar,  p.  19, 

341.  (37.) — We  have  made  use  of  the  terms   "bare  subject"   and  "bare 
predicate  "  in  preference  to  the  usual  "  simple  subject,"  etc.,  for  the  reason  that 
we  think  it  better  to  restrict  the  term  simple  in  its  syntax  use  to  distinguish  the 
simple  sentence  from  complex  and  compound  sentence.     Professor  Whitney  is 
the  only  author,  so  far  as  we  have  noticed,  that  has  employed  the  terms  "  bare  " 
and  "  simple^'  in  this  distinctive  way.     He  applies  the  term  "  bare  "  also  to  sim- 
ple sentences  consisting  of  only  a  subject  and  a  predicate. 

342.  Predicate  Adjective  ( 16  b ) ;— otherwise,  "  attribute  complement." 

(a)  "  Attribute  complement  "  is  proper  enough  when  applied  to  predicate 
adjectives  ( attribute  meaning  '  a  quality'  or  '  characteristic ' ),  but  by  some  it  has 
been  loosely  employed  to  mean  not  only  adjectives  but  nouns,  pronouns, 
phrases  (including infinitives)  and  clauses,  used  to  complete  the  predicate  after 
copula  verbs.  We  believe  it  is  better  to  use  the  more  significant  terms  found 
in  paragraphs  16  b,  17,  41  a,  and  120. 

343.  (42-3. ) — Since  the  verb  is  always  limited  by  its  object,  it  is  also  called 
the  "  object  complement ; "  hence,  the  complete  predicate  includes  the  object 
with  all  its  modifiers.     In  this  work,  however,  we  have  restricted  the  term  "  com- 
plement "  to  the  infinitive  adjuncts  of  subjects  and  objects.     [  See  222  and  223.  ] 

344.  Enough  (52  c),  when  an  adverb,  always  follows  the  verb  it  modifies  ; 
as,  "  It  is  not  deep  enough."     "  They  did  not  work  hard  enough." 

345.  Personal  Pronouns  (8oj. — "As  an  explanation  of  our  distinction 
between  the  First,  Second,  and  Third  Persons,  it  may  be  remembered  that  the 
Romans,  whose  grammar  we  have  copied,  thought  it  natural  for  the  person 
speaking  to  think  first  of  himself  (/) ;  second,  of  the  person  to  whom  he  was 
speaking  (you),  and  third,  of  any  one  else  about  whom  he  was  speaking  (him 
or  her). — How  to  Parse,  p.  61. 

346.  (81  a.)—  It  ( from  "  hit,"  the  Anglo-Saxon  neuter  of  he)  is  not,  strictly 
speaking,  a  personal  pronoun,  though  often  used  in  referring  to  young  children. 
For  the  origin  of  it  and  its,  see  "Words  and  Their  Uses,"  pp.  241-44. 

347.  Relative  Pronouns  (82). — We  have  not  included  what  in  this 
list,  though  such  a  classification  of  the  word  has  long  been  followed  by  gram- 
marians.    The  parsing  of  what  as  a  "  double  relative,"  equivalent  to  that  which 
or  the  thing  which,  may  possess  an  interest  for  those  who  delight  in  technicali- 
'ties,  but  there  is  nothing  but  confusion  in  it  for  the  average  student.     Besides, 
it  is  a  useless  distinction,  almost  an  absurdity,  to  consider  what  Any  more  a  rela- 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  197 

tive  in  "  I  don't  know  what  he  wanted,"  than  which  is  in  "  I  don't  know  which 
he  wanted  ;  "  for  there  is  no  antecedent  for  either  word.  True,  which  is  select- 
ive, what,  general ;  but  in  these  sentences  both  are  indefinite,  and  there  is  no 
more  need  of  resolving  what  into  that  which  or  the  thing  which,  in  order  to 
parse  it,  than  there  is  in  resolving  which  into  the  thing  which.  Nor  is  the  what 
any  more  a  relative  in  "  We  have  not  heard  what  caused  the  trouble,"  than 
which  is  in  "  We  have  not  heard  which  caused  it,"  or  who  in  "  We  have  not 
heard  who  caused  it." 

(a)  "  The  conjunction  as  is  sometimes  used,  especially  after  such  with  the 
value  of  a  relative  pronoun ;  thus,  '  I  love  such  as  love  me ; '  such  as  meaning 
here  the  same  as  those  who" — Essentials  of  English  Grammar ,  p.  /<?. 

(b)  Who,  Which,  and  That.—"  Who  and  whose  refer  to  persons  and 
things  personified ;  which,  to  infants,  irrational  animals,  and  to  persons  when 
the  specification  is  indefinite  or  interrogative  ;  and  that  is  used  in  the  place  of 
both  which  and  who.     Which  is  general ;  that  is  restrictive;  hence  a  relative 
clause  that  conveys  an  additional  and  general  idea  requires  which  instead  of  that ; 
for  illustration,  see  the  use  of  "  that "  in  the  last  sentence. — Townsend's  "Art 
of  Speech," p.  ///. 

(c)  Dr.  Abbott,  in  "How  to  Write  Clearly,"  gives  the  following  rule  for 
using  who,  which,  and  that : 

When  using  the  Belative  Pronoun,  use  "who"  and  "which" 
where  the  meaning  is  "  and  he,  it,  &c.,"  or  "  for  he,  it,  &c."  In  other 
cases  use  "  that,"  if  euphony  allows. 

"  I  heard  this  from  the  inspector,  who  (  and  he)  heard  it  from  the  guard  that  travelled  with 
the  train." 

"  Fetch  me  ( all )  the  books  that  lie  on  the  table,  and  also  the  pamphlets,  which  (:and  these) 
you  will  find  on  the  floor." 

An  adherence  to  this  rule  would  remove  much  ambiguity.    Thus  : 

"  There  was  a  public-house  next  door,  which  was  a  great  nuisance,"  means  "  and  this  (t.  e. 
the  fact  of  its  being  next  door)  was  a  great  nuisance  ;  "  whereas,  that  would  have  meant  "  Next 
door  was  a  public  house  that  (  i.  e.  the  public  house)  was  a  great  nuisance." 

"Who,"  "which,"  etc.,  introduce  a  new  fact  about  the  anteced- 
ent, whereas  "  that "  introduces  something;  without  which  the 
antecedent  is  incomplete  or  undefined. 

Thus,  in  the  first  example  above,  "  inspector  "  is  complete  in  itself,  and  "  who  "  introduces 
a  nevrfact  about  him  ;  "  guard  "  is  incomplete,  and  requires  "  that  traveled  with  the  train  "  to 
complete  the  meaning. 

It  is  not,  and  cannot  be  maintained,  that  this  rule,  though  observed  in  Elizabethan  English, 
is  observed  by  our  best  modern  authors.  (  Probably  a  general  impression  that  "  that "  cannot 
be  referred  to  persons  has  assisted  "  who  "  in  supplanting  "  that  "  as  a  relative. )  But  the  con- 
venience of  the  rule  is  so  great  that  beginners  in  composition  may,  with  advantage,  adhere  to  it. 

34:8.  Who  (42,  48). — The  objective  form  of  the  interrogative  who  is  be- 
coming obsolete.  It  is  now  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  position  immediately 
following  a  preposition.  Thus  we  ask:  "For  whom  did  you  inquire?"  but 
"  Who  did  you  inquire  for  ?  "  "  To  whom  did  you  apply  ?  "  but  "  Who  did  you 
apply  to  ?  "  "  Who  did  you  see  ?  " 


198  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

(a)  In  an    article  in   The   Chautauquan    (Feb.,  1885),  Mr.  Richard  Grant 
White  said  :    "  All  the  little  specks  of  grammar  that  the  English  has  are  mostly 
to  be  found  in  the  pronouns.     In  the  use  of  one  of  these  a  change  is  very  grad- 
ually taking  place.     Whom  has  begun  to  disappear,  began  indeed  a  long  time 
ago;  but  of  late  is   fading  somewhat  more    perceptibly.     For  example:  All 
speakers  of  good  English  say,  The  man  whom  I  saw,  not  The  man  who  I  saw; 
whom  being  the  objective  form  of  who.     But  now-a-days  not  one  person  in  a 
hundred  of  the  best  bred  and  best  educated  speakers  of  the  English  language 
asks,  Whom  did  you  see  ?  but  Who  did  you  see  ?    Indeed,  the  latter  form  of  the 
question  may  be  regarded  as  accepted  English.     Yet  in  the  latter  phrase  as  in 
the  former,  the  pronoun  is  the  object  of  the  verb  see,  and  should  strictly  have 
the  objective  form.     But  Whom  did  you  see  ?  would  now  sound  very  formal  and 
precise,  almost  priggish.     When,  however,   the  pronoun  is  brought  in  direct 
contact  with  the  verb,  as  in  the  phrase,  '  The  man  whom  I  saw,'  we  shrink  from 
insult  to  the  little  semblance  of  grammar  that  our  English  possesses  and  give 
the  word  its  objective  form.    The  time  will  probably  come,  although  it  may  be 
remote,  when  whom  will  altogether  have  disappeared." 

(b)  Whose  is  the  possessive  form  of  the  pronoun  who,  and  also  of  the 
adjective  which.     It  is  used:     I.  As  an   adjective-relative  (82  a,  example  2); 
t.  As  an  interrogative  indefinite  (83  b]  ;    3.  As  an  ordinary  indefinite  pronoun 
(83  Oi   4-  As  an  interrogative  adjective  (91);    5.   As  an  ordinary  indefinite  ad- 
jective (92  a). 

34:9.  Articles.— The  word  article  means  a  "little  joint  or  limb."— Dr. 
Abbott.  Hence,  the  term  is  not  inappropriately  applied  to  an  (a)  and  the, 
which  are  so  closely  connected  with  their  nouns  that  they  seem  to  be  a  part 
(a  *  limb  ')  of  the  noun. 

(a)  "  The  the  which  we  often  use  before  a    comparative  (adjective  or  ad- 
verb), in  such  phrases  as — 

The  more  the  merrier,    The  more  he  looked  at  her  the  less  he  liked  her, 
is  not  an  article  at  all,  but  an  adverb. 
Again,  in  phrases  like — 

Two  miles  an  hour,    Three  shillings  a  yard, 

the  an  or  a  is  not  precisely  the  article,  but  a  weakened  form  of  one  in  another 
sense,  that  of  '  each  one'  '  each,'  '  every.' 

Once  more,  in — 

He  is  gone  a  hunting,    They  set  it  a  going, 

and  the  like  (which  are  often,  and  better,  written  a-hunting,  a-going),  the  a  has 
nothing  to  do  with  either  the  article  or  the  numeral,  but  is  a  remnant  of  an  old 
preposition,  generally  on" — Professor  Whitney. — "  Essentials,"  p.  95. 

(b)  The  use  of  an  before  "historic"  and  other  words  beginning  with  the 
pronounced  h  and  accented  on  the  second  syllable,  though  still  observed  by 
some  writers  and  speakers,  is  becoming  obsolete. 

350.      Pronominal   Adjectives    (93).  — Grammarians  differ  as  to  the 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  199 

words  included  in  this  class.  Professor  Whitney  includes  all  the  possessive 
forms  given  in  81  a,  while  Dr.  Abbott  and  others  include  only  those  given  in 
141,  regarding  those  given  in  142  as  possessive  pronouns. 

351.  Words  "understood"  (94).  — The  noun  should  not  be  said  to 
be  "  understood,"  unless  it  can  be  supplied  from  the  same  sentence.    To  say 
that  the  noun  is  "  understood  "  after  each  and  neither  in  "  Each  was  positive  but 
neither  was  right,"  is  guess-work,  since  we  cannot  know  positively  what  the 
noun  is  without  going  outside  the   sentence.     Each  word  should  be  judged 
(  classified )  according  to  what  it  does  in  its  own  sentence. 

352.  Copula  Verbs.— The  copula  be  is  generally  regarded  as  the  base, 
or  root,  of  all  the  pure  copulas  ( 100  b,  Note ) ;  but  philological  research  has 
proved  that  they  come  to  us  from  three  different  roots. 

(a)  Concerning  the  verbs  seem,  appear ',  etc.,  in  their  copulative  use,  it  may 
be  observed  that  the  emphatic  do  or  did  may  be  placed  before  them,  which  is 
not  true  of  the  pure  copulas.     When  used  copulatively,  as  seem  always  is,  these 
words  admit  the  copula  to  be  after  them  without  affecting  the  meaning.     This  is 
also  true  of  the  passive  verb-phrases  made  from  such  transitive  verbs  as  choose, 
elect,  appoint^  name  ;  as,  was  chosen,  was  elected,  has  been  appointed. 

( b )  "Adverbial  Predicate. — In  some  sentences,  and  especially  with  the 
verbs  of  condition  and  motion,  the  predicate  adjective  seems  to  modify  both  the 
subject  and  the  verb.    For  example,  in  the  sentence,  '  The  sun  shines  bright? 
we  mean  not  merely  that  the  sun  is  bright,  but  also  that  the  shining  is  bright. 
Such  an  adjective  may  be  called  an  Adverbial  Predicate   Adjective,  because  it 
seems  to  have  something  of  the  force  of  an  adverb.      Other  examples  are,  '  He 
stands  firm;'   'The  milk  has  turned  sour;1  *  The  tone  rings  clear  and  ,/#///' 
'  They  sat  mute?  " —  Whitney  &  Loekwood's  Grammar,  p.  oo. 

(c)  Verbs  of  Identity.— "  The  Intransitive  Verbs  'is,'  '  looks,"  seems,' 
'  appears,'  and  the  Transitive  Verbs  '  make,' '  create,' '  appoint,' '  deem,' '  esteem,' 
being  often  used  to  express  identity,  may  be  called  '  Verbs  of  Identity.'  " — How 
to  Parse,  p.  105. 

(d)  Copulative  Verbs. — To  those  mentioned  in  the  Note  under  100  bt 
may  be  added  grow,  get  ( in  the  sense  of  '  become  ' ) ,  turn,  stand,  remain,  con- 
tinue, and  sound.     These  verbs  have  a  two-fold  office  in  sentences,  asserting  con- 
dition (or  state  of  being)  in  some  and  action  in  others.    It  is  principally  on 
account  of  this  double  use  of  these  copulative  verbs  that  persons  so  frequently 
err  by  using  adverbs  instead  of  adjectives  after  them.     Upon  this  point  Prof. 
Sill  makes  the  following  comment:     [Practical  I/essons,  p.  123.]     "Much  bad 
English  is  due  to  ignorance  of  the  two  meanings  and  uses  of  these  words.     It 
is  noticeable  that  those  untaught  in  grammar  usually  say,  for  instance,  'The 
city  looks  gay,'  as  they  ought,  while  those  who  attempt  some  precision  of 
speech  will  blunder  by  saying,  '  The  city  looks  gaily,'  which  means  nothing  at 
all."     Surely  here,  as  in  other  matters,  "  a  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing." 


200  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

353.  Passive  Verb-phrase  (101).— Notice  that  the  passive  form  of 
the  predicate  is  not  made  by  a  change  in  the  word  "  kicked"  but  by  putting  an- 
other word  before  it  to  form  a  phrase.  That  is,  a  verb  does  not,  in  itself,  show 
"  passivity,"  as  the  grammarians  say. 

354:.  Adverbs  (103). — There  are  cases  in  which  an  adverb  modifies  a 
preposition.  As  examples  of  such,  Professor, Whitney  gives — 

"  A  resulifar  beyond  his  hopes,"    "  He  jumped  clear  over  the  wall," 
and  Reed  and  Kellogg  ["  Higher  lyessons  in  English,"  p.  43]  give — 

"  The  Suspension  Bridge  is  stretched  across  the  Niagara  river  just  below  the  Falls." 

(a )  In  a  like  manner,  the  adverb /as/  may  modify  a  conjunction  in  such  sen- 
tences as,  "  He  came  just  as  I  was  leaving,"   "  It  happened  7*«.y/  before  we  arrived." 

( b )  "  The  adverbs  that  qualify  other  adverbs  are  almost  only  those  of  degree ; 
as,  very>  too,  more,  most.     The  same  are  used  most  freely  with  adjectives.     But  as 
adjectives  shade  off  into  participles,  implying  something  of  condition  or  action, 
they  take  more  or  less  freely  the  whole  series  of  qualifying  adverbs  which  the 
verb  takes."— Professor  Whitney—"  Essentials,"  p.  136. 

355.  "The    words   *  yes '  and  'no,'  which    are    used   in    replying  or  re- 
sponding to  a  question,  and  are  therefore   called  responsives,  were  originally 
adverbs,  but  are  so  no  longer  because  they  never  combine  with  other  words  as 
modifying  or  limiting  them,  but  are  in  themselves  complete  answers.     Thus,  in 
answer  to  the  question,  '  Will  you  go  ?  '  yes  and  no  means  respectively,  '  I  will 
go,'  or  '  I  will  not  go.'      The  responsives  stand  thus  for  a  whole  sentence,  and 
hence  are  not  properly  parts  of  speech  at  all,  in  the  real  meaning  of  that  name, 
but  are  more  analogous  with  the  interjections.'  " — Professor  Whitney. 

356.  Connectives  (49). — There  are  five    classes  of  connective  words: 
Copula  verbs  (i6a),  relative  (or  conjunctive)  pronouns  (82),  conjunctive  ad- 
verbs ( 105),  prepositions  (26),  and  conjunctions  (29).     But  of  these  only  the 
last  named  are  pure  connectives. 

(a )    A  pure  connective  is  a  word  that  does  nothing  but  connect  other  elements. 
{ b )    The  copula  verbs  assert  as  well  as  connect.    ( 16.) 

(c)  The  relative  pronouns  connect,  but  at  the  same  time  they  have  some  other  office  in  the 
sentence,  either  as  subject,  object,  or  adjective-relative.  (82  and  119.) 

(d)  The  conjunctive   adverbs,  aside  from  being  connectives,  are  also  a  modifying  effect 
on  other  words.     ( 105. ) 

(e)  Prepositions  are  usually  regarded  as  being  pure  connectives,  but,  in  reality,  their  chief 
use  is  not  to  connect,  but  to  introduce  phrases  that  they  help  to  form.    They  are  a  sort  of 
phrase  "  article,"  as  shown  by  the  use  of  for  to  intro.  'uce  a  noun  phrase.     ( 222  a.) 

357.  Conjunctions  ( 113  a). — In  speaking  of  those  words  that  are  "usually 
and  naturally  adverbs,"  but  which  at  times  become   co-ordinate  conjunctions, 
Professor  Sill  says :  "  When  these  words  are  so  used,  and,  but,  or,  or  nor  can  be 


PLAIN  ENGLISH.  201 

put  in  their  places  or  supplied  before  them,  without  materially  changing  the 
meaning ;  thus — 

'  The  day  is  warm,  nevertheless  (co-ord.  conj. )  it  is  pleasant,'  maybe  changed  to  '  The  day 
js  warm,  but  nevertheless  (adverb)  it  is  pleasant.' 

'  Be  obedient,  else  ( co-ord.  conj. )  I  will  punish  you,'  may  be  changed  thus — '  Be  obedient,  or 
else  (adverb)  I  will  punish  you.' 

'  He  was  determined,  yet  ( co-ord.  conj  )  he  was  quiet,'  may  be  changed  into  'He  was  de- 
termined, and  yet  ( adverb )  he  was  quiet.'  " 

(a)  Such  phrases  as  '  as  well  as,'  'as  far  as,'  etc.,  are  adverbial  conjunctive- 
phrases  when  they  mean  something  like  '  also,'  or  '  besides  ; '  as,  The  man  as 
well  as  the  boy  was  in  the  wrong.     But  when  the  phrase  introduces  a  compari- 
son, the  second  word  is  an  adjective  or  an  adverb ;  the  first,  an  adverb  modifying 
the  second,  and  the  last  word  is  the  conjunction.     Examples :     He  looks  as  well 
as  usual.     I  worked  as  long  as  I  could.    You  did  not  go  as  far  as  we  did. 

( b )  Correlatives  ( 114). — Concerning  the  pairs  of  words  that  are  commonly 
called  "  correlative  conjunctions,"  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  first  word  of  the 
pair  is  not  a  conjunction,  either  in  sense  or  use,  since  it  connects  nothing.     It 
is  strange  that  grammarians  have  gone  on  copying  one  another  in  this  as  in 
other  things.     Professor  Sill  is  the  only  one,  so  far  as  we  have  observed,  who 
does  not  consider  the  first  word  of  the  pair  a  conjunction.     He  says,  "  Some 
conjunctions  regularly  follow  certain  other  words,  usually  adjectives  or  adverbs. 
Words  so  belonging  together  are  called  correlative  words." 

358.  (123  a.) — That,  introducing  a  noun  clause,  has  by  some  been  called  a 
conjunction.     A  conjunction  connecting  what  ?    In  case  the  noun  clause  is, used 
objectively,  does  it,  as  the  object,  need  any  connecting  element  between  it  and 
the  verb?     That  in  such  cases  is  merely  introductory  and  may  properly  be 
called  the  "  clause  article."     [  See  definition  of  "article  "  above,  349.  ] 

359.  ( 126-7.)— These  form-changes   are  generally  called  "inflections." 
'Inflection*  means  a  'bending.'     [866362.] 

360.  Plurals  of  Proper  Nouns,  Titles  and  Compound  Nouns.— 

"  Most  proper  nouns  form  their  plurals  regularly. 

Examples  :  The  Germans  ;  all  the  Smiths  ;  the  Joneses  ;  both  Queen  Marys  ;  the  two  Gen. 
Jacksons  ;  any  of  the  Henrys  of  England ;  either  of  the  Mrs.  Browns  ;  the  Shakespeares  and 
Miltons  of  our  time. 

(a  )  When  we  wish  to  refer  to  several  members  of  the  same  family,  we  may 
give  the  plural  form  to  the  title,  instead  of  to  the  name. 

Examples :    The  Misses  Blackman  ;  the  Messrs.  Irving. 

( b )     The  title  is  also  made  plural  when  it  is  used  with  several  names. 

Examples :  Gens.  Grant  and  Sherman  ;  Drs.  Carey  and  Field ;  Misses  Mary,  Alice,  and 
Edith  Browning ;  Messrs.  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. ;  Presidents  Cleveland  and  Harrison. 


202  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

(c)  Compound  nouns  generally  add  the  sign  of  the  plural  to  that  part  of  the 
word  which  is  limited  or  described  by  the  other  part. 

Examples :  Blackbirds,  merchantmen,  house-tops,  steamboats,  hangers-on,  brothers-in« 
law,  knights-errant,  commanders-in-chief. 

( d)  Some  words,  originally  compounds,  are  no  longer  regarded  as  such,  and 
are  treated  as  simple  words. 

Examples:    Mouthfuls,  handfuls,  spoonfuls. 

(  e)     Some  few  compounds  make  both  parts  of  the  word  plural. 
Examples:  Men-servants;  knights- templars." 

—  Whitney  &  Lock-wood's  Grammar,  p.  41. 

361.  "Gender." — Paragraph  134  contains  all  that  we  deem  it  necessary 
or  advisable  to  give  on  the  subject  of  sex  distinction  in  words.    The  matter  is 
of  no  practical  importance  in  the  construction  of  an  English  sentence.    The 
term  "  gender  "  has  not  been  employed,  for  the  reason  that  its  use  to  denote  sex 
is  a  forced  meaning.    In  Latin  (from  which  the  term  was  copied),  German, 
French,  and  other  inflected  languages,  gender  has  to  do  with  the  words  and  not 
with  the  objects  themselves.     In  any  of  these  languages,  the  name  of  a  woman 
may  be  of  the  masculine  "  gender,"  or  the  name  of  an  inanimate  object  may  be 
either  of  the  masculine  or  feminine  "  gender;"  and  so  an  adjective  may  be  of 
the  masculine,  feminine,  or  neuter  gender,  according  to  its  required  agreement 
with  the  word  it  qualifies. 

( a )  The  number  of  English  nouns  to  which  the  female  suffix,  ess,  may 
properly  be  added  is  very  small.  Of  these,  the  greater  part  are  titles,  such  as 
countess,  empress,  princess,  etc.,  where  the  distinction  of  sex  is  a  matter  of 
necessity.  The  ess  should  not  be  added  to  a  noun  denoting  vocation,  office,  or 
rank,  unless  the  noun  primarily  means  a  man,  which  is  rarely  the  case.  Besides, 
ess  is  generally  superfluous  because  the  noun  is  almost  always  accompanied  by 
a  female  pronoun  or  title  ;  as,  she,  Mrs.,  Miss,  or  by  some  female  Christian  name. 
Thus  it  is  absurd  to  say,  "  Mary  is  a  waitress  at  the  Hotel  de  Bowser,"  "  She 
was  a  poetess  of  considerable  fame,"  or  "  Mrs.  Queerquill  is  an  editress  of  no 
mean  ability,"  and  so  forth. 

362.  "  Case  w  ( 135 )  .—The  word  case  is  from  the  Greek  word  which  means 
"  falling,"  that  is,  as  the  Greeks  applied  the  term  to  words  it  meant  the  "  fall- 
ing "  or  "  bending  "  of  a  word   (its  deviation  in  form),  from  the  subject  form 
which  they  regard  as  erect.     Hence,  as  Dr.  Abbott  remarks,  "  The  Greeks  would 
not  have  used  such  an  expression  as  a  subjective  [ '  nominative  '  ],  *  case  '  at  all ; 
to  them  it  would  have  been  as  absurd  as  to  speak  of  an  erect  falling." 

(a)  Plainly,  then,  nouns  have  but  one 'case,'  the  possessive.  The  so-called 
*  nominative  case  '  is  not  properly  a  '  case,'  having  nothing  to  distinguish  it  as 
such.  Neither  is  the  objective  use  of  a  noun  a  '  case  '  since  a  noun  in  that  posi- 
tion has  no  form  ( '  falling'  or  '  bending ' )  to  distinguish  it. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  203 

(3)  With  a  few  of  the  pronouns,  however,  the  matter  of  '  case  '  is  different. 
/,  he,  she,  we,  they  and  who  have  three  forms  to  indicate  their  subjective,  ob- 
jective and  possessive  uses.  (Though  his  maybe  used  in  all  three  positions, 
while  who  is  becoming  a  common  form  for  both  subject  and  object.  348.)  You 
has  the  possessive  form  but  no  distinctive  nominative  or  objective  forms,  hav- 
ing supplanted  thou  and  thee  as  singular  nominative  and  objective  forms.  We 
have  spoken  of  the  '  cases  '  of  pronouns  and  the  possessive  '  case  '  of  nouns,  as 
forms.  Dr.  Abbott  speaks  of  them  as  the  "  uses  "  of  these  parts  of  speech. 

363.  Possessive  of  Nouns  in  Apposition  (137).—"  When  a  possessive 
noun   is  followed  by  an  explanatory  word,  the  possessive  sign  is  added  to  the 
explanatory  word  only.     But  if  the  explanatory  word  has  several  modifiers,  or 
if  there  are  more  explanatory  words  than  one,  the  principal  word  only  takes 
the  sign. 

Remark. — When  a  common  noun  is  explanatory  of  a  proper  noun,  and  the  name  of  the 
thing  possessed  is  omitted,  the  possessive  sign  may  be  added  to  either  the  modifying1  or  princi- 
pal word  ;  as,  We  stopped  at  Tiffany,  the  jeweler's,  or,  We  stopped  at  Tiffany's,  the  jeweler.  ( If 
the  name  of  the  thing  possessed  is  given,  the  noun  immediately  before  it  takes  the  sign.) 
Examples :  This  is  Tennyson,  the  poet's  home.  I  took  tea  at  Brown's,  my  old  friend  and 
school-mate.  This  belongs  to  Victoria,  queen  of  England's  domain.  This  province  is 
Victoria's,  queen  of  England."  From  Higher  Lessons  in  English  (  Reed  &  Kellogg) ,  /.  211. 

364.  Person  in  Verbs  (157-8-9). — The  archaic  forms  art  and  wast  have 
gone  out  of  general  use  along  with  thou  and  thee.    With  them  also  have  gone 
the  verb-form  of  the  second  person  ending  in  st  or  est  and  the  third  person 
form  ending  in  th  or  eth.     These  forms  are  founu.  in  older  English. 

You  in  supplanting  thou  has  carried  with  it  the  plural  are  which  has  thus  be- 
come both  singular  and  plural.  This  reduces  the  person  signification  of  verbs 
in  modern  English  to  the  first  person  singular  of  the  verb  be — am,  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  singular  /  from  all  other  singular  subjects. 

The  use  of  the  plural  form  of  other  verbs  with  /  is  plainly  a  person  use, 
since  it  cannot  be  a  number  use.  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  it  is  not  a  use 
which  the  verb  itself  indicates;  for  it  (the  verb)  does  not  distinguish  between 
the  first  person  singular,  and  the  first,  second,  and  third  persons  plural.  Clearly, 
then,  the  distinction  of  person  in  verbs  is  so  limited  as  hardly  to  deserve  men- 
tion in  parsing. 

365.  Participles  (164).— Properly  speaking,  the  participial  noun  ('ver- 
bal-noun') is  an  infinitive,  sometimes  called  the  "infinitive  in  ing"  or  the 
"  participial  infinitive ;  "  also  called  the  "  gerund."    It  is  from  the  old  English 
infinitive  in  an.     However,  as  it  is  a  true  participle  in  that  it  shares  in  the  na- 
ture of  two  parts  of  speech  at  once,  we  have  classed  it  as  such  to  avoid  confu- 
sion to  the  student. 

(a)  [ See  paragraph  104. ]  The  verbal  noun  ('participle')  is  used  also  in 
the  predicate  after  the  copula ;  as — 

His  favorite  pastime  is  telling  stories  to  children. 


204  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

(6)     Dr.  Abbott  regards  participles  in  such  sentences  as — 

Listening,  we  caught  the  sound  of  clattering  hoofs,  [  Example,  p.  71,  top.) 
IvOoking  out  of  the  window  we  saw  them  coming,  [  Sentence  12,  par.  171.  ] 

as  adverbially  used,  being  abridged  adverbial  clause  ;  thus — 

When  ( or  because)  we  were  listening ',  we  caught  the  sound — etc., 

and  he  treats  the  participial  attendant  element  as  adverbial  in  sense  as  shown  in 
paragraph  214.  We  believe  this  to  be  in  the  line  of  common-sense  simplicity 
tfl  analysis  and  parsing. 

366.  Shall  and  Will  ( 175.)— Thus,  when  I  say  I  shall  go  I  state  merely 
proposed  future  action  on  my  part ;  if  I  am  asked  to  go  and  I  reply  I  will  go  it 
is  understood  that  I  have  promised  to  go.  Again,  if  there  is  any  hindering 
cause  or  obstacle  to  prevent  my  going  I  may  resolve  to  go  anyway,  in  which  case 
I  naturally  say,  I  will  go,  showing  the  exercise  of  will-power, — a  determination 
on  my  part. 

The  speaker  may  exercise  will-power  for  himself  but  not  for  another.  Thus, 
he  may  express  determination  by  saying,  I  will  go,  but  not  by  You,  or  he  will  go. 
He  can,  however,  denote  his  own  determination  in  regard  to  another,  and  its 
effects  upon  the  person  spoken  to  or  spoken  of;  and  this  he  does  by  saying, 
"  You,  or  he,  shall  ^o  ;  "  that  is,  '  I  will  oblige  (compel)  you,  or  him,  to  go.' 

We  should  not  lose  sight  of  this  distinction  between  shall  and  will,  for  if  we 
do,  we  shall  lose  their  real  significance  and  come  to  regard  them  as  mere  auxil- 
iaries whose  only  use  is  to  help  express  future  time.  The  mere  emphasizing 
of  shall  in  the  first  person,  and  will  in  the  second  and  third,  will  not  make  this 
distinction  as  to  determination  on  the  part  of  the  former,  or  obligation  or 
necessity  placed  upon  the  latter. 

(a)  Shall  and  will  have  been  thoroughly  discussed  by  able  writers;  but 
for  the  space  it  occupies  we  know  of  nothing  better  than  the  following  by 
Mr.  Richard  Grant  White  : 

"  The  distinction  between  these  words,  although  very  clear  when  it  is  once 
apprehended,  is  liable  to  be  disregarded  by  persons  who  have  not  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  early  intercourse  with  educated  English  people.  I  mean  English  in 
blood  and  breeding  ;  for,  as  the  traveller  found  that  in  Paris  even  the  children 
could  speak  French,  so  in  New  England  it  is  noteworthy  that  even  the  boys  and 
girls  playing  on  the  commons  use  shall  and  will  correctly 

The  radical  signification  of  will  (Anglo-Saxon  willan)  is  purpose,  intention, 
determination;  that  of  shall  (Anglo-Saxon  sceal,  ought, )  is  obligation.  1  will 
do  means,  I  purpose  doing — I  am  determined  to  do.  I  shall  do  means,  radically, 
I  ought  to  do  ;  and  as  a  man  is  supposed  to  do  what  he  sees  he  ought  to  do,  / 
shall  do  came  to  mean,  I  am  about  doing — to  be,  in  fact,  a  mere  announcement 
of  future  action,  more  or  less  remote.  But  BO  you  shall  do  means,  radically,  you 
ought  to  do  ;  and  therefore  unless  we  mean  to  impose  an  obligation  or  an- 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  206 

nounce  an  action  on  the  part  of  another  person,  over  whom  we  claim  some  con- 
trol, shall,  in  speaking  of  the  mere  voluntary  action  of  another  person,  is  inap- 
propriate; and  we  therefore  say  you  will,  assuming  that  it  is  the  volition  of  the 
other  party  to  do  thus  or  so.  Hence,  in  merely  announcing  future  action,  we 
say,  I  or  we  shall,  you,  he,  or  they  will ;  and,  in  declaring  purpose  on  our  own 
part,  or  on  the  part  of  another,  obligation,  or  inevitable  action,  which  we  mean 
to  control,  we  say,  I  or  we  will,  you,  he,  or  they  shall.  Official  orders,  which  are 
in  the  form  you  will,  are  but  a  seeming  exception  to  this  rule  of  speech,  which 
they,  in  fact,  illustrate.  For  in  them  the  courtesy  of  superior  to  subordinate, 
carried  to  the  extreme  even  in  giving  command,  avoids  the  semblance  of  com- 
pulsion, while  it  assumes  obedience  in  its  very  language.  Should  and  would 
follow,  of  course,  the  fortunes  of  shall  and  will ;  and,  in  the  following  short 
dialogue,  I  have  given,  I  believe,  easily  apprehended  examples  of  all  the  proper 
uses  of  these  words,  the  discrimination  of  which  is  found  by  some  persons  so 
difficult.  A  husband  is  supposed  to  be  trying  to  induce  his  reluctant  wife  to  go 
from  their  suburban  home  to  town  for  a  day  or  two. 

He,    I  shall  go  to  town  tomorrow.    Of  course  you  will  ? 

She.  No,  thanks.  I  shall  not  go.  I  shall  wait  for  better  weather,  if  that  will  ever  come. 
When  shall  we  have  three  fair  days  together  again  ? 

He.    Don't  mind  that.    You  should  go.    I  should  like  to  have  you  hear  Ronconi. 

She.    No,  no  ;  I  will  not  go. 

He.  [  To  himself.  ]  But  you  shall  go,  in  spite  of  the  weather  and  of  yourself.  [  To  her.] 
Well,  remember,  if  you  should  change  your  mind,  I  should  be  very  happy  to  have  your  com- 
pany. Do  come ;  you  will  enjoy  the  opera;  and  you  shall  have  the  nicest  possible  supper  at 
Delmonico's. 

She.  No  ;  I  should  not  enjoy  the  opera.  There  are  no  singers  worth  listening  to ;  and  I 
wouldn't  walk  to  the  end  of  the  drive  for  the  best  supper  Delmonico  will  ever  cook.  A'  man 
seems  to  think  that  any  human  creature  would  do  anything  for  something  good  to  eat. 

He.    Most  human  creatures  will. 

She.    I  shall  stay  at  home,  and  you  shall  have  your  opera  and  your  supper  all  to  yourself. 

He.  Well,  if  you  will  stay  at  home,  you  shall ;  and  if  you  won't  have  the  supper,  you  shan't ; 
but  my  trip  will  be  dull  without  you.  I  shall  be  bored  to  death— that  is,  unless,  indeed,  your 
friend,  Mrs.  Dashatt  Mann,  should  go  to  town  tomorrow,  as  she  said  she  thought  she  would; 
then,  perhaps,  we  shall  meet  at  the  opera,  and  she  and  her  nieces  will  sup  with  me. 

She.  [  To  herself.  ]  My  dear  friend  Mrs.  Dashatt  Mann  !  And  so  that  woman  will  be  at  her 
old  tricks  with  my  husband  again.  But  she  shall  find  that  I  am  mistress  of  this  situation,  in 
spite  of  her  big  black  eyes  and  her  big  white  shoulders.  [To  htm.}  John,  why  should  you 
waste  yourself  upon  those  ugly,  giggling  girls? 

To  be  sure,  she's  a  fine  woman  enough  ;  that  is,  if  you  will  buy  your  beauty  by  the  pound, 
but  they ! 

He.  O,  think  what  I  will  about  that,  Iimust  take  them,  for  politeness'  sake  ;  and,  indeed, 
although  the  lady  is  a  matron,  it  wouldn't  be  quite  proper  to  take  her  alone — would  it  ?  What 
should  you  say  ? 

She.  Well,  not  exactly,  perhaps.  But  it  don't  much  matter,  she  can  take  care  of  herself,  I 
should  think.  She's  no  chicken  ;  she'll  never  see  thirty-five  again.  But  it's  too  bad  you  should 
be  bored  with  her  nieces— and  since  you're  bent  on  having  me  go  with  you— and— after  all,  I 
should  like  to  hear  Ronconi— and— you  shan't  be  going  about  with  those  cackling  girls— well, 
John,  dear,  I'll  go.—  Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  267. 

367.     Future  and  Perfect  "  Tenses"  ( 180).— It  is  usual  to  speak  of  the 


206  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

verb-phrases  that  indicate  the  future  and  perfect  ( also  called  the  '  oblique ') 
divisions  of  time  as  "  tenses  "  of  the  verb ;  but  in  reality  no  verb  can  by  itself 
denote  more  than  two  divisions  of  time.  Thus,  a  person  may  say  '  I  walk?  '  I 
walked?  expressing  present  and  past  action.  But  if  he  wishes  to  denote  future 
time  he  must  say,  'I  shall  (or  will)  walk?  making  use  of  the  verb  walk,  which 
by  itself  denotes  present  time.  Clearly,  then,  future  time  is  not  expressed 
by  the  verb  walk  but  by  the  auxiliary  shall  (or  will)  placed  before  it. 

And  so  in  "I  have  walked,"  the  verb  walked  is  nothing  more  or  less  than 
the  past  time  form  of  walk.  It  is  by  the  use  of  have  before  the  past  walked  that 
we  denote  what  is  called  the  "  present  perfect  tense." 

(a)  Have,  in  itself,  denotes  possession,  present  possession;  as,  "He  has 
the  toothache,"  "  I  have  an  idea,"  "  We  have  fears."     Walked  denotes  a  com- 
pleted or  perfect  action ;  hence,  have  walked  literally  denotes  present  posses- 
sion of  a  perfect  or  completed   action,  and  is,  therefore,  properly  called  the 
"present  perfect  time."    It  is  not,  however,  the  present  perfect  tense  of  the 
verb  walked  but  a  "  present  perfect  "  verb-phrase. 

(b)  Had  denotes  past  possession  ;  as,  "He  had  the  money,"  "They  had  a 
quarrel."    So  in  the  sentence,  "  I  had  walked  a  long  distance,"  had  walked  de- 
notes past  possession  of  a  completed  action  ;  hence  it  is  a  "  past  perfect  "  verb- 
phrase,  with  walk  as  its  base. 

(c)  Again,  in  "  I  shall  have  walked,"  the  phrase  shall  have  walked  denotes 
future   (shall)  possession    (have)  of  a  perfect,  or  completed,  action  (walked). 

368.  "  Mode."— Regarding  the  so  called  "  mode  "  of  verbs,  it  should  be 
observed  that  the  mode  ( '  manner ' )  of  making  an  assertion  is  not  a  quality 
('modification ')  of  the  verb  itself,  but  a  characteristic,  so  to  speak,  of  the  entire 
expression.      For   instance,  a  verb  has    no  form    ('inflection')    which    in 
itself  denotes  subjunctive  use  ;  for  that,  it  must  depend  upon  its  connection  with 
the  words  expressing  doubt,  supposition,  or  future  contingency. 

369.  The  "subjunctive  mode"  (so  called)    of  verbs  is  now   practically 
confined  to  the  use  of  were  in  the  present  ( under  the  circumstances  mentioned 
in  paragraph  188 )  and  the  use  of  the  present  form  of  verbs  with  a  future  sense 
in  conditional  clauses  as  shown  in  189. 

( a )  Concerning  the  subjunctive  use  of  be  and  the  present  plural  form  of 
other  verbs  with  both  singular  and  plural  subjects,  in  expressing  present  doubt 
or  a  future  contingency  as  the  possible  condition  upon  which  some  other  action 
depends,  grammarians  and  good  writers  are  divided  in  opinion  and  usage ;  but 
the  preponderance  of  opinion  and  usage  favors  abolishing  the  subjunctive. 
Some  authors  still  hold  that  these  subjunctive  uses  are  important  since  they 
make  a  distinction  between  assumed  facts  or  facts  about  which  the  speaker  is  in 
doubt,  and  mere  future  contingencies;  thus, 

If  it  rains  ( now,  as  you  say  it  does  ),  I  shall  not  go. 

If  It  rains  ( tomorrow,  as  it  may ),  I  shali  not  go. 

But  these  same  authors  tell  us  that  when  there  is  doubt  at  to  whether  the  in- 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  207 

dicative  or  the  subjunctive  mode  is  required,  we  are  to  use  the  indicative.  Now> 
it  is  this  very  uncertainty  about  the  subjunctive  that  makes  it  objectionable  ; 
for  the  perplexity  usually  results  in  a  ridiculous  mixture  of  the  indicative  and 
subjunctive  forms  of  expression,  sometimes  in  the  same  sentence.  On  this 
point  Edward  S.  Gould  says :  [  "  Good  English,"  p.  147.  ] 

"  The  subjunctive  mood  is  a  universal  stumbling-block.  Nobody  seems  to 
understand  it,  although  almost  everybody  attempts  to  use  it.  At  the  best,  when 
it  is  used  correctly — supposing  that  there  is  anything  correct  about  it — it  gives 
to  a  sentence  an  air  of  pedantry,  if  not  of  affectation.  Mr.  Bryant  [William 
Cullen  ],  and  Professor  Hadley  of  Yale  College,  denounce  it  as  absurd,  and 
many  other  educated  men  hold  the  same  opinion."  [  Here  follows  a  lengthy 
quotation  from  Goold  Brown,  who  himself  quotes  Chandler  assaying:  "It 
would,  perhaps,  be  better  to  abolish  the  use  of  the  subjunctive  mood  entirely. 
Its  use  is  a  continual  source  of  dispute  among  grammarians  and  of  perplexity 
to  schools,"  etc.  Mr.  Gould  then  continues :  ] 

"  Brown's  entire  comments  on  the  subjunctive  mood  fill  three  closely  printed 
royal  octavo  pages, — 338-340 — of  his  "  Grammar  of  Grammars,"  and  the  reader 
is  referred  to  them  for  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject.  Enough  is  here  quoted 
to  justify  the  first  paragraph  of  this  chapter;  and  some  instances  of  the  Way  in 
which  good  writers  use — or  abuse — and  do  use  and  don't  use  the  subjunctive, 
may  serve  to  illustrate,  and  possibly  to  vindicate,  Chandler's  remark,  "  It  would, 
perhaps,  be  better  to  abolish  the  use  of  the  subjunctive  mood  entirely." 

[  Here  follow  a  number  of  sentences  showing  how  good  writers  have  erred 
in  the  use  of  the  subjunctive  mood.  Of  these  we  quote  only  the  following :  ] 

1.  "  If  indeed,  the  saying-  be  true, "  etc.—"  If  heaven  expresses  one  thing,"  etc. 

2.  "  Unless  he  fail  to  express  himself,"  etc. — "  If  he  does  explain  himself,"  etc. 

3.  "  If  heaven  is  used  in  one  sense  only,  and  if  that  sense  be  the  sidereal  host,"  etc. 

Mr.  Gould  then  concludes  his  remarks  upon  the  subjunctive  by  saying: 
"  Similar  quotations  from  English  literature,  past  and  present,  might  be  con- 
tinued through  hundreds  and  thousands  of  pages.  But  perhaps  enough  has 
been  given  to  induce  the  reader  to  say  of  the  subjunctive,  as  is  sometimes  said 
of  a  difficult  conundrum,  "  we  had  [  might  ?]  better  give  it  up." 

370.  The  Infinitive  (190).— The  question  as  to  whether  the  so-called 
"  sign  "  of  the  infinitive  is  a  preposition  may  be  of  interest  to  philologists,  but 
it  is  of  no  importance  to  the  average  student  of  language.  It  is  a  mere  techni- 
cality, and  practically  there  is  no  good  reason  for  considering  it  other  than  a 
part  of  the  infinitive.  Whatever  the  to  may  have  been  in  former  times,  one 
thing  is  quite  certain,  it  has  come  to  be,  as  Mr.  Ramsey  says,  "  a  mere  earmark 
of  the  infinitive."  But  since  this  "earmark  "  is  so  often  lacking,  we  question 
the  propriety  of  calling  it  a  "  sign,"  and  would  suggest  the  name  "  infinitive 
article  "  as  a  term  more  nearly  fitting  the  case. 

(a )  About  is  now  the  only  preposition  that  takes  an  infinitive  object  ( 191* ,. 
Formerly  the  infinitive  was  used  after  for.  [  See  Matt.  II  :8 ;  John  x :  10.  ] 


208  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

371.  Auxiliary    Verbs    (198).— Formerly,  all  the  auxiliaries  were  re- 
garded as  principal  verbs,  and  the  verb  following  one  of  them  was  regarded  as 
an  infinitive   (as,  indeed,  it  is)  without  its  "  sign."     In  course  of  time,  most  of 
the  auxiliaries  came  to  be  regarded  as  mere  helpers  in  the  verb-phrases ;  but 
as  shown  in  paragraphs  203,  205,  and  367,  ought ',  do,  and  have  are  in  reality 
principal  verbs. 

372.  Appositive  Adjective  (211).— "When  an  adjective  is  joined  to  a 
noun  or  a  pronoun  in  a  looser  and  more  indirect  way,  as  if  it  were  the  predicate 
of  an  abbreviated  descriptive  clause,  it  is  called  an  APPOSITIVE  ADJECTIVE.  Its  use 
is  much  like  that  of  the  appositive   noun ;  and  it   is    often,  but  not  always, 
placed  after  the  noun  which  it  qualifies. 

Examples  :  All  poetry,  ancient  and  modern,  abounds  in  sentiment. 
That  is,  all  poetry,  whether  it  be  ancient  or  modern. 
Tired  and  hungry,  he  hastened  home. 
That  is,  since  he  was  tired  and  hungry" 

—  Whitney  &  LockwoocTs  Grammar ;  p.  97. 

373.  Adverbial  Objective    (217).— "Nouns  which  express    measure, 
either  of  time,  distance,  weight,  number,  age,  or  value,  etc.,  may  be  used  like 
adverbs,  to  qualify  verbs,   adjectives,   or  adverbs.     They   may  then  be   called 

ADVERBIAL  OBJECTIVES. 

Examples  :  They  walked  a  mile.  The  pole  was  five  feet  long.  You  should  have  come  a  day 
earlier. 

There  is  now  no  special  case-form  for  this  construction ;  but  we  know,  from 
the  forms  in  older  English  and  in  other  languages,  that  the  case  of  the  noun  is 
the  objective.  Besides,  we  can  often  use  a  preposition  to  connect  such  a  nouu 
with  the  word  which  it  qualifies. 

Examples :  He  waited  an  hour=He  waited  for  an  hour. 

It  is  three  acres  larger=It  is  larger  by  three  acres. 
He  died  last  night=*during  last  night." 

Whitney  &  LockwoocTs  Grammar,  p.  52. 

(a.)  "The  adverbial  phrase  is  sometimes  contracted  into  a  noun  or  a  prep- 
ositional prefix ;  e.  g.,  *  aboard,'  '  afoot,'  '  afield ; '  and  sometimes  still  further 
into  a  noun  without  prefix  of  any  kind ;  as,  I  am  going  fishing  ( this  is  a  con- 
traction for  '  go  on  fishing,'  or  '  go  a-fishing.' )  " — How  to  Parse,  p.  94. 

374.  Cognate  Object  (  218).—"  Some  verbs,  though  generally  intransi- 
tive, take  occasionally  after  them  an  object  whose  meaning  is  akin  to  the  verb. 
Such  objects  are  called   cognate  ( co-,  '  together ; '  nate, '  born  : '    Hence,  '  born 
together,'  'related,"  'akin'). 

This  usage  is  more  common  in  poetry  and  in  elevated  language  than  in  ordi- 
nary prose — 

1.  They  have  slept  their  sleep. 

2.  He  has  fought  a  good  fight ;  They  shouted  applause. 

3.  We  have  walked  a  long  walk  today."  —How  to  Parse,  p.  92. 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  209 

875.  Supplements  (221). — Dr.  Abbott  calls  nouns  and  adjectives,  used 
to  complete  the  object  after  "verbs  of  identity,"  supplements ;  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  infinitive  complements  of  subjects  and  objects.  ( 222-3. )  His 
treatment  of  these  constructions  is  very  thorough.  [  See  "  How  to  Parse,"  p.  102.] 

(a)  Professor  Whitney  calls  these  supplements  of  the  object  "objective  or 
factitive  predicates."     He  says  : 

"  An  object  along  with  a  predicate  word  qualifying  it  is  taken  especially  often  by  a  verb  that 
is  used  in  a  factitive  sense ;  that  is,  in  the  sense  of  '  making  or  causing  or  bringing  about ' 
something  by  means  of  the  action  which  the  verb  signifies." 

He  then  gives  some  examples,  among  which  are  the  following : 

Thus  taking  sing  in  the  usual  sense,  we  should  never  speak  of  "  singing  a  throat."  but  we 
may  say,  "  I  sang  my  throat  hoarse,"  meaning  "  I  made  my  throat  hoarse  by  singing."  And  in 
like  manner,  "She  wrings  the  clothes  dry,"  "They  planed  the  board  smooth,"  etc.;  where 
wrings  dry  means  '  makes  dry  by  wringing,'  and  so  on. 

(b)  "Even  intransitive  verbs  are  thus  used  factitively  with  objects  and  qualifying  predi- 
cate ;  thus,  "  He  danced  his  feet  tired  ;  "  "  They  wept  their  eyes  blind." 

( c )  "A  verb,  whether  transitive  or  intransitive,  is  especially  often  used  factitively  when  it  is 
also  used  reflexively.    [  See  218  b.  ]    Thus,  "  They  sang  themselves  hoarse,"  "He  walked  him- 
self weary. 

[On  the  preceding  page  of  "  Essentials  "  appear  the  following  examples  of  a  similar  use  of 
the  noun  to  complete  the  direct  object : 

"  We  called  him  a  coward."    "  They  chose  her  queen." 

(d)  "  An  adjective  or  a  noun  is  called  objective  or  factitive  predicate  when  it  is  brought  by 
the  verb  into  relation  with  the  direct  object,  as  qualifying  or  describing  that  object." 

(<?)  "  In  languages  which  distinguish  the  objective  case  throughout  from  the  subjective  or 
nominative  by  a  different  form,  this  predicate  would,  of  course,  be  in  the  objective  as  the  or- 
dinary predicate  in  the  nominative;  but  an  instance  of  such  'agreement'  cannot  occur  in 
English  except  [  in  the  case  of  a  pronoun  1  after  an  infinitive." —  Essentials,  p.  166. 

376.     "  Declinable  pronouns  are  often  subjects  of  omitted  verbs  ;  thus — 

i.  He  is  older  than  /  (am).  2.  I  am  as  strong  as  he  (is).  3.  No  one  was 
frightened  but  he  ( was  frightened ) . 

NOTE  TO  THE  TEACHER.— There  is  a  question  in  reference  to  the  construction  illustrated 
in  No.  3  above.  Many  treat  but  in  such  cases  as  a  preposition.  These  would  condemn 
Example  No.  3,  and  correct  it  by  writing  him  instead  of  he.  Goold  Brown,  Mulligan,  and 
several  other  eminent  grammarians,  however,  treat  but  in  such  sentences  as  a  co-ordinate  con- 
junction. They  teach  that  an  omitted  verb  must  be  supplied,  and  that  the  case  of  the  pronoun 
that  follows  but  must  be  determined  by  the  construction.  Thus,  they  would  condemn, 

They  all  went  but  him, 
because  they  would  regard  him  as  the  subject  of  a  suppressed  verb  ;  but  they  would  justify, 

They  outran  all  the  boys  but  me, 
supplying  the  ellipsis,  thus — 

They  outran  all  the  boys  but  (they  did  not  outrun)  me, 
and  making  me  the  object  of  the  suppressed  verb  outrun. 

A  somewhat  thorough  search  among  English  writers  convinces]  me  that  ancient  as  well  as 
modern  usage  upholds  the  latter  view,  viz.,  that  but,  in  this  case,  is  to  be  regarded  not  as  a 
preposition,  but  as  a  co-ordinate  conjunction." — Practical  Lessons  in  English,  pp.  93-4. 


210  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

From  the  examples  furnished  by  Professor  Sill,  we  select  the   following, 
which  we  consider  sufficient  to  sustain  the  opinion  expressed  above  : 

"  This  January,  who  is  glad  but  he?  " — Chaucer. 
"Who  followeth  Cristes  gospel  and  his  love  but  we?  "— Id. 
"  Methinks  nobody  should  be  sad  but  I." — Shakespeare. 
"  Take  your  oath  that  you  elect  110  king  but  him." — Id. 

"We  are  alone;  there's  none  but  thee  and  I."— Id.    (This  passage  takes  both  sides  of  the 
question. ) 

"  There  is  none  other  but  he." — Mark  xir :  32.    [  See  also,  John  in  :  13.  ] 

"  A  fact  of  which,  as  none  but  he  could  be  conscious,  none  but  he  could  be  the  publisher  of 
it."— Pope. 

"  Thus  she,  and  none  but  she,  the  insulting  rage 

Of  heretics  opposed,  from  age  to  age." — Dryden. 
"  And  in  his  hand  he  shakes  the  brand 

That  none  but  he  can  wield."— Macaulay. 
11  Whose  lights  are  fled,  whose  garlands  dead, 
And  all  but  he  departed." — Moore. 

"  No  one  knew  but  I."    "  If  I  had  been  coming  to  any  but  her." — Dickens. 
"  All  this  while  the  strange  man  looked  at  nobody  but  me." — Id. 

377.  Archaic  Forms  (169).— Outside  the  realm  of  poetry  and  petitions 
to  the  throne  of  grace,  it  is  better  not  to  attempt  using  the  archaic  ( or 
"  solemn  " )  forms,  as  they  savor  of  affectation  and  are  often  ridiculously  mixed. 
Not  long  ago,  we  saw  the  following  sign  in  front  of  an  enterprising  (?)  real- 
estate  broker's  office  :  ''Come  unto  me  and  thou  shall  receive  attention."  Such 
a  use  of  language  is  worse  than  absurd — it  is  disgusting  to  persons  of  good 
taste  and  good  sense.  If  there  is  one  thing  that  more  than  all  others  deserves 
condemnation  by  those  who  have  the  least  grain  of  respect  for  Holy  Writ,  it  is 
the  presumptuous  travesty  of  its  familiar  passages  for  advertising  purposes. 
First  cousin  to  it  is  the  attempt  to  be  witty  or  to  say  something  "cute  "  (to 
which  so  many  are  prone)  by  making  use  of  Scripture  expressions  when  speak- 
ing of  trivial  things.  [See  page  118,  Error  9.] 

378.  His   or  Her. — The    lack    of    a    personal    pronoun  of   "common 
gender  "  has  been  the  cause  of  much  perplexity  in  our  language  in  speaking  to 
or  in  speaking  of  the  individuals  comprising  a  class  or  collection  of  males  and 
females.     Of  course,  there  is  no  such  perplexity  when  an  audience  is  composed 
entirely  of  males  or  entirely  of  females,  for  then  the  feminine  or  the  masculine 
pronoun  is  used  as  the  case  may  be.     But  when  an  audience  is  "  mixed,"  it  is 
different.     It  sounds  awkward  (as  it  is)  to  say,    "Each  pupil  should  study  his 
or  her  lesson  well."     "  Let  each  one  who  favors  this  raise  his  or  her  hand."     In 
such  cases  the  best  usage  warrants  our  employing  the  masculine  his,  as  repre- 
senting both  males  and  females  in  the  same  way  that  the  term  mankind  is  under- 
stood to  include  both  men  and  women.     Thus  we  say,  "Each  pupil  should  study 
his  lesson  well."     "  Let  each  one,  etc.,  raise  his  hand." 

379.  Whether  or  no. — This  expression,  which  is  now  generally  regarded 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  211 

as  incorrect,  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  fact  that  "the best  usage"  is  not 
the  final  law  in  language.  In  the  words  of  an  eminent  writer  on  the  subject, 
"  The  best  usage  may  have  been  wrong."  Whether  or  no  was  wrong  a  century 
or  two  ago  (when  it  was  freely  used  by  good  writers)  in  the  same  respect  that  it 
is  wrong  today  ;  it  is  not  logical.  [See  page  221.] 

380.  Had  rather,  etc.     (25814.)— "No  doubt  there  is  plenty  of  good 
authority  for  had  better  and  had  rather ;  but  how  can  future  action  be  expressed 
by  a  verb  that  signifies  past  and  completed  possession  ?  " —  Words :  Their  Use 
and  Abuse,  p.  347. 

(a)  "  The  incongruity  of  *  I  had  rather  be,'  etc.,  is  that  of  the  combination  of 
the  sign  of  past  time  with  that  of  present  time, — had  be.     In  these  sentences, 
the  word  rather ',  meaning  only  sooner,  may  confuse  and  mislead  some  readers, 
although  it  is  merely  a  modifier  of  had,  and  has  no  formative  function  in  the 
sentence.     The  incongruous  and  anomalous  position  of  had  may  be  seen  by 
considering  the  expression  of  exactly  the  same  thought  by  the  use  of  would 
and  the  transposition  of  rather.     ( I  would  be  a  door-keeper  in  the  house  of  my 
God  rather  than  dwell  in  the  tents  of  the  ungodly,'  '  I  would  be  right  rather 
than  be  President,'  are  sense  and  English ;  but '  I  had  be  a  door-keeper,  etc.,  rather 
than  dwell,'  and  '  I  had  be   right  rather  than  be  President '  are  nonsense." — 
Every-Day  English,  p.  437. 

(b)  "  Would  rather  may  always  be   substituted  for    had  rather.     Might 
rather  would  not  have  the  same  meaning.     Would  and  should  do  not  go  well 
with  better.     In  one  instance,  can  is  admissible.     '  I  can  better  afford,'  because 
can  is  especially  associated  with  afford.    We  may  say  might  better,  but  it  has 
neither  the  sanction,  the  idiomatic  force,  nor  the  precise  meaning  of  had  better" 
— The  English  Language  and  English  Grammar,  p.  413. 

381.  Lie  and  Lay.  (25818.) — "  Some  years  ago  an  old  lady  consulted  an  ec- 
centric Boston  physician,  and,  in  describing  her  disease,  said  :     '  The  trouble, 
Doctor,  is  that  I  can  neither  lay  nor  set.'     '  Then,  Madam,'  was  the  reply,  '  I 
would  respectfully  suggest  the  propriety  of  roosting.' " —  Words  :  Their  Use  and 
Abuse,  p.  345. 

382.  Sit  and  Set.     ( 25824. )— "Most  of  us  have  heard  and  laughed  at  the 
story  of  the  judge  who,  when  counsel  spoke  of  the  setting  of  the  court,  took 
him  up  with,  '  No,  brother,  the  court  sits  ;  hens  set.'    But  I  fear  that  some  of 
us  have  laughed  in  the  wrong  place.     Hens  do  not  set ;  they  sit,  as  the  court 
does,  and  frequently  to  better  purpose.      No  phrase  is   more  common  than 
'  a  setting  hen^'  and  none  more  incorrect.     A  hen  sits  to  hatch  her  eggs,  and, 
therefore,  is  a  sitting  hen.  Sit  is  an  active,  but  an  intransitive  verb — a  very  intran- 
sitive verb — for  it  means  to  put  one's  self  in  a  position  of  rest.     Set  is  an  active, 
transitive  verb — very  active  and  very  transitive — for  it  means  to  cause  another 
person  or  thing  to  sit,  willy-nilly.    A  schoolma'am  will  illustrate  the  intran si- 


212  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

tive  verb  by  sitting  down  quietly,  and  then  the  transitive  by  giving  a  pupil  a 
setting  down  which  is  anything  but  quiet.  This  setting  down  is  metaphorical, 
and  is  borrowed  from  the  real,  physical  setting-down  which  children  sometimes 
have,  much  to  their  astonishment." — Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  156. 

(a)  The  sun  sets. — As  an  explanation  of  the  exception  (or  apparent 
exception)  to  the  rule  regarding  sit  and  sitting  in  "The  sun  sets,"  "The  sun 
was  setting,"  and  so  forth,  Mr.  White  shows  in  "Words  and  their  Uses  "  that 
set  in  this  case  is  from  the  old  Anglo-Saxon  settle,  of  which  it  is  a  corruption, 
settle  being  a  noun  meaning  '  seat.' 

383.  Both  alike.  ( 2686. )— "  «  Those  two  pearls  are  both  alike.'  This  i* 
equal  to  the  story  of  Sam  and  Jem's  resembling  each  other  very  much,  particu- 
larly Sam.  When  we  say  of  two  objects  that  they  are  alike,  we  say  that  they  are 
like  each  other — that  is,  simply,  that  one  is  like  the  other.  The  authority  of 
very  long  and  very  eminent  usage  can  be  brought  in  support  of  both  alike  ;  but 
this  is  one  of  those  points  upon  which  such  authority  is  of  no  weight ;  for  the 
phrase  is  not  an  idiom,  and  it  is  at  variance  with  reason.  The  error  is  more 
and  other  than  pleonastic  or  than  tautological.  It  is  quite  like  that  which  I 
heard  from  a  little  girl, — a  poor  street  waif, — who  told  a  companion  that  she 
'  had  two  weenie  little  puppy-dogs  at  home,  and  they  were  both  brothers.'  " — 
Words  and  Their  Uses,  pp.  88-80. 

384:.  Widow  woman.  (26826.) — "In  two  out  of  seventy  instances  in  the 
English  Bible  a  widow  is  called  a  widow  woman  ;  the  reason  being,  as  I  am  in- 
formed by  a  friend  who  is,  what  I  am  not,  a  Hebrew  scholar,  that  in  those  cases 
the  original  reads,  '  a  woman,  a  widow.' " —  Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  775. 

385.  It  Should  seem.  (26919.) — "This  is  an  absurd  expression  often  met 
with  even  in  the  most  esteemed  authors.    What  does  it  mean  ?    We  all  under- 
stand the  word  seem  in  its  two  shades  of  meaning,  appearing  and  presenting  a 
false  appearance.     Now  a  thing  appears  or  does  not  appear ;  and  that  might  well 
put  an  end  to  the  matter.     But  in  our  great  fondness  for  a  display  of  modesty 
we  sometimes  say,  unhesitatingly :  '  It  would  seem.'    This  might  consistently 
enough  have  a  meaning,  which  would  be :  *  Granting  certain  conditions,  it  would 
then  seem.'    But  that  is  not  what  people  mean  by  the  phrase,  but  something  like 
this  :     '  I  beg  pardon  ten  thousand  times  for  venturing  to  intimate  that  possibly 
it  seems.'     Still  what  is  meant  by  *  It  should  seem,'  and  wherein  does  it  differ 
from  '  It  would  seem  ?  '    According  to  the  proper  signification  of  the  words,  the 
meaning  should  be  :  'It  ought  to  seem,  but  it  does  not.'     Beyond  that  I  am  un- 
able to  extract  from  it  any  semblance  of  sense." — Samuel  Ramsey. 

386.  Is  being  built,  etc,  (  2692°. )— "  But,"  says  some  one,  "how  are  we 
to  get  along  without  is  being  built,  is    (or  was)    being  done,  and  so  forth?" 
ICasily  enough,  we  think;  at  least  we  have  never  heard  that  Chaucer,  Shakes- 
peare, and  other  great  artists  of  the  English  language  had  any  special   difficulty 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  213 

in  getting  along  without  them.  Why  should  we  hesitate  to  say,  "  The  house  is 
building,"  just  as  the  cook  says,  "  The  bread  is  baking,"  or  "  The  meat  is  roast- 
ing," for  in  all  such  cases  it  is  well  understood  that  the  object,  being  incapable 
of  action,  is  the  receiver  of  the  action — a  passive  subject.  But  even  when  the 
object  is  capable  of  performing  the  action,  we  are  not  driven  to  such  straits 
that  we  must  use  a  passive  phrase  involving  a  union  of  words  denoting  present- 
progressing-finished  action.  For  instance,  we  are  not  obliged  to  say,  "  The  boy 
is  being  whipped,"  nor  yet  "  The  boy  is  whipping"  (which  is  ambiguous) ;  for 
we  may  say,  "  They  are  ( or  he,  or  she  is )  whipping  the  boy,"  or  "  The  boy  is 
getting  a  whipping." 

But  this  is  being  absurdity  leads  people  to  construct  such  awkward  sentences 
as,  "  A  fine  residence  is  being  built  at  the  corner  of  Oak  and  Maple  streets  by 
Mr.  Rich,"  when  they  mean  simply  that  "Mr.  Rich  is  building  a  fine  house,"  or 
"  is  having  a  fine  house  built,"  etc. 

We  give  below  the  views  of  some  eminent  writers  regarding  is  being,  etc. : 

(a)  "I  know  nothing  of  the  history  of  the  language,  and  I  cannot  tell  whether  all  this 
will  stand,  but  this  I  do  know  that  rationally  or  irrationally,  I  have  an  undying  hatred  to  "  is 
being,"  whatever  arguments  are  brought  in  its  favor.    At  the  same  time  I  fully  grant  that  it  is 
so  convenient  in  the  present  state  of  the  language  that  I  will  not  pledge  myself  I  have  never 
been  guilty  of  using  it." — Cardinal  Newman. 

The  above  is  from  a  letter  written  by  Cardinal  Newman  and  published  by 
Professor  Earl  in  his  "Philology  of  the  English  Tongue."  Mr.  Ramsey 
quotes  it  in  his  book  and  then  adds : 

"  Now  I  do  not  agree  with  Cardinal  Newman  as  to  the  convenience  of  the  expression : 
'The  housed  being  built:'  It  seems  to  me  quite  inconvenient,  inelegant,  clumsy,  and  one*  that  . 
would  be  used  only  by  a  person  who  could  think  of  no  other  to  suit  his  purpose.  Indeed,  it  ad- 
mits of  greater  awkwardness  than  I  have  ever  seen  represented,  If  we  say,  '  is  being  built'  we 
may  also  say,  '  has  been  being  built'  or  even  '  The  house  being  being  built,  the  family  went  away 
for  the  summer.'  Any  one  who  will  invent  a  better  phrase  will  deserve  public  gratitude.  Yet, 
bad  as  it  is,  it  serves  the  purpose.  It  shows  that  the  house  is  in  progress,  and  that  it  is  not  the 
builder  but  the  thing  to  be  built."— Samuel  Ramsey. 

(b)  "Is  being  done  is  simply  exists  existing  done.     To  say,  therefore,  that  a  thing  is  being 
done  is  not  only  to  say  ( in  respect  of  the  last  two  participles)  that  a  process  is  going  on  and  is 
finished,  at  the  same  time,  but  (in  respect  of  the  whole  phrase )  that  it  exists  existing  finished  ; 
which  is  no  more  or  other  than  to  say  that  it  exists  finished,  is  finished,  is  done  ;  which  is  ex- 
actly what  those  who  use  the  phrase  do  not  mean.    It  means  that  if  it  means  anything  ;  but  in 
fact  it  means  nothing,  and  is  the  most  incongruous  combination  of  words  and  ideas  that  ever 
attained  respectable  usage  in  any  civilized  language. 

This  absurdity  is  cloaked  by  the  formation  of  to  be  from  parts  of  three  verbs,  which  gives 
us  such  dissimilar  forms  as  is  for  the  present  tense,  was  for  the  past,  and  being  for  the  present 
participle.  It  seems  as  if  in  is  being  there  were  two  verbs.  We  may  be  sure  that  if  the  present 
participle  of  to  be  were  formed  like  that  of  to  love  (loving]  we  should  never  have  heard  the 
phrases  bes  being  done  or  is  tsing  done,  bes  being  built  or  is  ising  built.  This  nonsense  is  hidden 
from  the  eye  and  deadened  to  the  ear  by  the  dissimilarity  in  form  of  is  and  being."— R.  G.  White. 

The  following  dialogue  is  said  to  have  taken  place  some  years  ago  in  Massa- 
chusetts. It  was  published  by  a  newspaper  "  for  the  benefit  of  grammarians  :" 

Old  Gentleman.—"  Are  there  any  houses  building  in  your  village  ?  " 


214  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 

Young  Lady. — "  No,  Sir.  There  is  a  new  house  being  built  for  Mr.  Smith,  but  it  is  the  can 
penters  who  are  building." 

Gentleman.— "True;  I  sif  corrected.  To  be  building  is  certainly  a  different  thing  from  to 
be  being  built.  And  how  long  has  Mr.  Smith's  house  been  being  built  ?  " 

Lady.—(  Looks  puzzled  a  moment,  and  then  answers  rather  abruptly. )     "  Nearly  a  year." 

Gentleman. — "  How  much  longer  do  you  think  it  will  be  being  built?  " 

Lady.— (Explosively.)     "Don't  know." 

Gentleman. — "  I  should  think  Mr.  Smith  would  be  annoyed  by  its  being  so  long  being  built, 
for  the  house  he  now  occupies  being  old,  he  must  leave  it,  and  the  new  one  being  only  being 
built,  instead  of  being  built  as  he  expected  he  cannot "  [  Exit  young  lady.  ] 

387.  On  the  Street.     (26924.) — This  expression  is  a  pure  Americanism. 
Why  do  we  not  say,  "on  the  alley,"  as  well  as  "on  the  street,"  or  "on  the 
avenue."    The  point  is  this  :    Whenever  place  is  meant,  with  no  special  refer- 
ence to  what  the  person  or  thing  is  standing,  moving,  or  resting  upon,  we  say 
(or  should  say)  in,  unless  the  place  has  no  well-defined  limits  or  is  very  great 
in  extent.     Thus  we  say,  "The  farmer  is  working  in  the  field,"  "  He  was  stand- 
ing in  the  hall,"  "  The  children  played  in  the  yard,"  "  It  happened  in  the  alley." 

Now,  a  street  or  an  avenue  has  certain  well-defined  limits.  Notice  the  fol- 
lowing definition  from  the  Century  Dictionary : 

"  Street :  A  public  way  or  road,  etc.,  including  the  sidewalk  or  sidewalks  and  the  roadway ; 
and  having  houses  or  town  lots  on  one  or  both  sides.  Strictly  the  word  excludes  the  houses 
which  are  on  the  street ;  or  in  a  very  common  use  it  includes  the  land  and  houses  which  are 
then  in  the  street ;  as  a  house  in  High  street." 

There  has  been  some  question  as  to  whether  one  lives  on  or  in  a  certain 
street.  We  venture  the  opinion  that  neither  is  logically  correct.  A  person 
lives  at  such  a  number,  by  ( beside,  '  by-side  ' )  such  a  street.  For  do  we  not  ask, 
"  On  which  side  of  the  street  do  you  live  ?  " 

388.  The  exception  proves  the  rule.  ( 2692 9. )— This  "  popular  absurd- 
ity" has  done  so  much  harm  in  silencing  the  truth  and  hindering  the  right, 
that  we  give  space  to  the  following  from  a  chapter  by  Richard  Grant  White  in 
"  Words  and  Their  Uses."    We  regret  that  limited  space  prevents  our  giving  the 
chapter  entire. 

"  The  few  people  who  care  to  say  only  what  they  mean,  and  who  therefore 
think  about  what  they  say  and  what  others  say  to  them,  must  sometimes  be 
puzzled  by  the  reply  often  made  to  an  objection,  '  Well,  he,  or  that,  is  an  excep- 
tion, and  you  know  the  exception  proves  the  rule.'  This  is  uttered  with  calm 
assurance,  as  conclusive  of  the  question  at  issue,  and  is  usually  received  in 
silence — with  an  air  of  indifferent  acquiescence  on  the  part  of  the  thoughtless, 
but  on  the  part  of  the  more  thoughtful  with  a  meek  expression  of  bewilderment. 
The  former  are  saved  from  the  trouble  of  further  mental  exertion,  and  they  are 
content;  the  latter  feel  that  they  have  been  overcome  by  the  bringing  up  of  a 
logical  canon  which  always  stands  ready  as  a  reserve,  but  the  truth  of  which, 
admitted  as  indisputable,  they  would  like  very  much  to  be  able  to  dispute.  In 
fact,  this  pretentious  maxim  infests  discussion,  and  pervades  the  every-day  talk 
of  men,  women,  and  children.  It  appears  in  the  writings  of  historians,  of  es- 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  215 

sayists,  and  of  polemics,  as  well  as  in  those  of  poets,  novelists,  and  journalists. 
A  legislator  will  use  it  to  destroy  the  effect  of  an  instance  brought  forward 
which  is  directly  at  variance  with  some  general  assertion  that  he  has  made.  .  . 
.  .  It  enters  into  the  word-skirmish  of  flirtation.  'How  dare  you  assert,' 
says  Miss  Demure  to  Tom  Croesus,  defiance  on  her  lips  and  witchery  in  her 
eye,  '  that  women  nowadays  are  all  mercenary !  Don't  you  know  that  it  is  an 
insult  to  me  ? '  '  Ah,  but,  Miss  Demure,'  replies  the  weakly-struggling  Croesus, 
'  you're  an  exception  ;  and  you  know  the  exception  proves  the  rule.'  Where- 
upon the  lady  submits  with  charming  grace  to  the  conqueror,  having  within  her 
innocent  breast  the  consoling  conviction  that  she  is  playing  her  big  fish  with  a 
skill  that  will  soon  lay  him  gasping  at  her  feet.  There  is  no  turn  which  this 
maxim  is  not  thus  made  to  serve ;  and  this  use  of  it  has  gone  on  for  a  century 
or  more,  and  people  submit  to  the  imposition  without  a  murmur. 

An  imposition  the  maxim  is,  of  the  most  impudent  kind,  in  its  ordinary  use; 
for  a  mere  exception  never  proved  a  rule ;  and  that  it  should  do  so  is,  in  the  very 
nature  of  things,  and  according  to  the  laws  of  right  reason,  impossible.  Con- 
sider a  moment.  How  can  the  fact  that  one  man,  or  one  thing,  of  a  certain  class, 
has  certain  traits  or  relations,  prove  that  others  of  the  same  class  have  opposite 
traits  and  other  relations  ?" — Words  and  Their  Uses,  pp.  433-41. 

389.  •'  Awful"  Words.     (270.)— The  habit  of  exaggeration,  or  extrava- 
gance, in  the  use  of  words  is  one  that  is  very  common,  indeed,  so  much  so  that 
probably  but  few  persons  are  not  guilty  of  it  in  a  degree.     The  grace  of  "  sound 
speech  that  cannot  be  condemned"  is  rare — very  rare;  yet  it  is  a  grace  that 
should  be  sought  after  and  cultivated. 

(a)  Akin  to  the  use  of  such  words  as  "awful,"  "horrid,"  "splendid,"  "im- 
mense," is  the  use  of  slang  expressions ;  and  the  person  who  uses  one  will 
sooner  or  later  find  himself  indulging  more  or  less  in  the  other.  To  the  homely 
and  forcible  idioms  of  our  language  there  can  be  no  objection, — in  fact  they 
constitute  an  element  of  strength  and  beauty;  but  idioms  differ  materially 
from  "  slang."  On  this  point,  Professor  Whitney  says:  "  A  tendency  to  slang, 
to  colloquial  inelegancies,  and  even  vulgarities,  is  the  besetting  sin  against 
which  we,  as  Americans,  have  especially  to  guard  and  to  struggle." 

390.  Misused  Words.    ( 271. )— We  are  well  aware  that  Webster,  Worces- 
ter, and  even  the  great  Century  Dictionary  admit  some  of  the  definitions,  or 
uses,  objected  to  in  this  list.*    As  to  that,  however,  we  have  merely  to  say  in  the 
words  of  Mr.  White,  "  Dictionaries  have  come  to  be  in  too  many  cases  the  per- 
nicious record  of  unreasonable,  unwarranted,  and  fleeting  usage."    This  is  par- 
ticularly true  of  what  we  have  called  "counterfeit  words."  [  See  278.  ]     On  this 
point,  Mr.  Gould  says  :    ["  Good  English,"  p.  35.]     "  The  rivalry  between  Wor- 

*  It  is  proper  to  say,  however,  that  the  Century  Dictionary,  being  "  an  Encyclopedic  Lexicon 
of  the  English  Language,"  is  supposed  to  contain  the  words  and  their  uses  as  they  are  or  have 
been  in  the  past,  and  not  merely  as  they  should  be. 


216  J>LAIN    ENGLISH. 

cester  and  Webster,  wherein  each  lexicographer  strove  to  get  into  his  book 
more  words  than  could  be  found  in  the  other's  book  has  caused  many  words  to 
appear  in  the  two  dictionaries  which  do  not  belong  there."  If  the  makers  of 
"  unabridged  "  dictionaries  would  confine  their  definitions  of  a  word  to  those 
that  are  legitimate  and  necessary,  the  value  of  such  books  would  be  increased  in- 
versely as  the  square  of  the  pages  of  matter  thus  omitted.  Then  they  might  do 
another  excellent  thing  by  putting  all  incorrectly  formed  words  into  an  appen- 
dix where  those  who  use  the  books  might  be  warned  that  "  these  words  are 
spurious." 

If  DeQuincey's  statement  that  "  All  languages  tend  to  clear  themselves  of 
synonyms  as  intellectual  culture  advances  "  is  true,  our  dictionaries  do  not 
represent  a  very  high  state  of  intellectual  culture.  When  the  definitions 
( meanings )  of  a  word  are  spun  out  until  it  ( the  word )  is  represented  as  a  syn- 
onym of  other  words  whose  primary  meanings  are  radically  different  from  it, 
the  word  in  question  loses  just  so  much  of  its  force.  The  greater  the  number 
of  meanings  given  a  word  the  less  definite  it  is.  If  a  word  has  but  one  mean- 
ing, we  are  never  in  doubt  as  to  what  the  writer  or  speaker  means  when  he  uses 
it ;  but  when  a  word  has  a  half  dozen  different  meanings,  we  stand  just  one 
chance  in  six  of  being  right  in  our  interpretation  of  the  user's  meaning,  for 
the  context  will  not  always  help  us  out  in  this  respect.  Hence,  the  importance 
of  confining  words  as  nearly  as  possible  to  their  primary  meanings, — certainly  to 
their  necessary  meanings. 

391.  Couple.     (272.)— "The  noun  couple  is  necessarily  the  result  of  the  verb  to  couple. 
The  act  of  coupling  precedes  the  fact  of  being  coupled,  and  therefore  the  meaning  of  the  noun 
is  controlled  by  the  meaning  of  the  verb. 

People  of  all  classes,  and  writers  of  all  positions,  without  the  slightest  misgiving,  com- 
punction, or  remorse,  daily  fabricate  such  phrases  as  a  couple  of  days,  a  couple  of  dollars,  a  couple 
of  eggs,  a  couple  of  books,  a  couple  of  weeks,  months,  or  years  ;  and  so  on,  to  the  end  of  English 
nouns-substantive.  And  for  all  that,  those  very  people  and  those  very  writers  would  laugh  to 
scorn  any  man  who  ventured  to  say,  a  brace  of  days,  weeks,  months,  or  years  ;  a.  yoke  of  eggs  ;  a 
pair  of  dollars  ,-  a  span  of  books." — Good  English,  p.  42-43. 

392.  I>epot  and  Station.  (272. )— "  Railroad  depot  is  the  abominable  name  usually 
given  in  this  country  to  a  railway  station.    Every  depot  is  a  station,  although  not  in  all  cases  a 
passenger  or  even  a  freight  station  ;  but  very  few  stations  are  depots.    A  depot  is  a  place  where 
stores  and  materials  are  deposited  for  safe  keeping.     Station  means  merely  a  standing,  and  a 
railway  station  is  a  railway  standing— a  place  where  trains  and  passengers  stand  for  each  other. 
There  is  no  justification  whatever  for  calling  such  a  place  a  depot.    And  to  aggravate  the  offense 
of  so  doing  as  much  as  possible,  the  word  is  pronounced  in  a  manner  which  is  of  itself  an  af- 
front to  common  sense  and  good  taste — that  is,  neither  day-poll,  as  it  should  be  if  it  is  used  as  a 
French  word,  nor  dee-pott,  as  it  should  be  if  it  has  been  adopted  as  an  English  word.    With  an 
affectation  of  French  pronunciation  it  is  called  dee-poh,   the  result  being  a  hybrid  English- 
French  monster,  which,  with  the  phrase  of  which  it  forms  a  part,  should  be  put  out  of  exist- 
ence with  all  convenient  despatch." — Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  148. 

393.  Either.     (  272. )— There  is  a  use  of  either  which  gives  it  the  signifi- 
cation of"  '  one  and  the  other ; '  as,  "  On  either  side  of  the  river  was  the  tree  of 
life;"  "  On  either  side  of  the  street  grew  stately  elms."    But  this  use  of  the 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  217 

word  has  been  sharply  criticised  by  both  Gould  and  Mathews.     Commenting 
upon  the  same  point,  Mr.  White  says  : 

"  Either  is  a  singular  word.  It  expresses,  and  from  Anglo-Saxon  times  has  expressed,  in 
the  best  usage,  one  of  two  and  both  of  two.  Thus,  '  On  either  side  of  the  river  was  the  tree  of 
life,'  means  that  the  tree  grew  on  both  sides  alike;  but,  '  Take  either  side  of  the  river,'  means 
that  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  sides  may  be  taken.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  explain  how 
this  word  means  both  one  and  two,  and  how  it  can  be  used  without  causing  any  confusion  for 
intelligent  people." 

Again,  the  same  author  speaking  of  the  pronunciation  of  these  words,  says  : 

"  For  the  pronunciation  i-ther  and  ni-ther,  with  the  i  long,  which  is  sometimes  heard,  there 
is  no  authority,  either  of  analogy  or  of  the  best  speakers.  It  is  an  affectation,  and  in  this 
country,  a  copy  of  second-rate  British  affectation.  Persons  of  the  best  education  and  the  high- 
est social  position  in  England  generally  say  eether  and  needier."—  Words  and  Their  Uses. 

394r.  m?  Sick.  (273.)  —  "  I  was  present  once  when  a  British  merchant,  receiving  in  his 
own  house  a  Yankee  youth  at  a  little  party,  said,  in  a  tone  that  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
whole  room,  'Good  evening!  We  haven't  seen  you  for  a  long  while.  Have  you  been  se.eck* 
(  the  sneer  prolonged  the  word  ),  '  as  you  say  in  your  country  ?  '  '  No,  thank  you,'  said  the  other 
frankly  and  promptly,  '  I've  been  hill,  as  they  say  in  yours.' 

British  officers  have  sick  leave  ;  British  invalids  keep  a  sick  bed,  or  a  sick  room,  and  so 
forth,  no  matter  what  their  ailment.  No  one  of  them  ever  speaks  of  ill  leave,  an  ill  room,  or  an 
ill  bed.  Was  an  111  Club  ever  heard  of  in  England?  The  incongruity  is  apparent,  and  it  is 
new-born  and  needless.  For  the  use  of  /'//  —  an  adverb  —  as  an  adjective,  thus,  '  an  ill  man,'  there 
is  nodefence  and  no  excuse,  except  the  contamination  of  bad  example."  —  Words  and  Their  Uses, 


395.  Likewise.    (273.  )—  "An  English  Quaker  was  once  asked  by  a  lawyer  whether 
he  could  tell  the  difference  between  also  and  likewise.    '  O,  yes,'  was  the  reply,  '  Erskine  is  a 
great  lawyer  ;  his  talents  are  universally  admired.    You  are  a  lawyer  also  but  not  like-a/zj*.'  — 
Words  :  Their  Use  and  Abuse,  p.  346. 

396.  Nice.    (  274.)—"  One  of  the  most  offensive  barbarisms  now  prevalent  is  the  use  of 
this  as  a  pet  word  to  express  almost  every  kind  of  approbation,  and  almost  every  quality.    Of 
the  vulgarity  of  such  expressions  as  '  a  nice  man  '  (meaning  a  good  or  pleasing  man),  '  a  nice 
day,'  '  a  nice  party,'  etc.,  there  cannot  be  a  shadow  of  doubt.    '  A  nice  man  '  means  a  fastidious 
man  ;  a  '  nice  letter  '  is  a  letter  very  delicate  in  its  language.    Some  persons  are  more  nice  than 
wise."  —  Words:  Their  Use  and  Abuse,  p.  358. 

397.  Own,  Confess*    (274.)  —  "  A  man  commits  a  crime,  and  on  being  arrested  and 
intimidated  into  a  confession,  he  '  owns  '  the  crime.    It  must  be  owned,  that  it  is  a  queer  kind 
of  ownership.    There  are  other  kinds. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  confess  is  the  right  word,  it  is  frequently  tagged  with  a  to,  which 
makes  strange  work  of  the  writer's  or  speaker's  meaning.  To  confess  is  to  acknowledge  or  to 
disclose  something;  and  in  the  latter  sense  it  is  to  reveal  some  previously  unknown  fact  to 
some  person  or  persons.  Yet  one  of  the  well-edited  Massachusetts  newspapers  stated  that  A. 
B  ,  previously  to  being  hung,  '  confessed  to  two  murders,'  besides  the  one  for  which  he  suffered  ; 
C.  D.  '  confessed  to  three  murders  ;  '  and  E.  F.  confessed  to  four  murders,'  —  all  previously  un- 
known to  the  courts.  That  jumble  of  to's  was  contained  in  one  paragraph  of  the  newspaper 
referred  to."  —  Good  English,  p.  138. 

398.  I"dl-mell.    (274.)  —  "This  word  or  phrase  implies  a  crowd  and  confusion  (Fr. 
melee},  and  should  never  be  applied,  as  it  is  by  some  speakers  and  some  writers  for  the  press, 
to  an  individual  ;  as,  for  instance,  in  this  sentence  from  a  first-rate  newspaper  :   '  I  rushed  pell- 
mell  out  of  the  theatre.'    The  writer  might  as  well  have  said  that  he  rushed  out  promiscuously, 
or  that  he  marched  out  by  platoons.'  "—  Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  145. 


218  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

399.  I*re»ent.    (274. )— "  The  use  of  this  word  for  introduce  is  an  affectation.     .    .    In 
France,  every  person,  in  being  made  acquainted  with  another,  is  presented,  the  French  lan- 
guage not  having  made  the  distinction  which  is  made  in  Kngland  between  present  and  intro- 
duce.   We  present  foreign  ministers  to  the  President ;  we  introduce,  or  should  introduce,  our 
friends  to  each  other.    We  introduce  the  younger  to  the  older,  the  person  of  lower  position  to 
the  person  of  higher,  the  gentleman  to  the  lady — not  the  older  to  the  younger,  the  lady  to  the 
gentleman." — Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  147. 

400.  Ra*se.    (  274.}— "  Raising  the  rent,  for  increasing  the  rent.    A  landlord  notified  his 
tenant  that  he  should  raise  his  rent.    '  Thank  you,'  was  the  reply  ;  '  I  find  it  very  hard  to  raise  it 
myself.'  " — Words  :  Their  Use  and  Abuse,  p.  366. 

401 .  ( 274- )  "  Rctnemlicr  and  Recollect  are  used  interchangeably,  as  if  they  were 
synonyms,  and  the  preference  seems  to  be  most  generally  given  to  the  latter.    They  are  not 
synonymous,  and  the  distinction  between  them  is  an  important  one,  which  ought  to  be  preserved. 
That  which  lies  in  our  memory  at  hand,  ready  for  use  at  any  moment,  we  remember;  but  we 
also  really  do  remember  much  that  does  not  lie  at  hand,  that  we  cannot  find  in  our  mind's 
storehouse  on  the  instant,  and  this  we  try  to  recollect,  that  is,  to  re-collect.    Therefore,  the  ex- 
pression, I  don't  remember,  but  I  will  try  to  recollect,  is  not  only  correct,  but  it  sets  forth 
a  condition  of  the  mind  expressible  in  no  other  way,  and  to  speak  of  which  we  have  frequent 
necessity.    The  ability  to  do  so  will  be  impaired,  if  not  altogether  lost,  when  the  distinction 
between  the  two  words  is  done  away." — Every-Day  English,  p.  414. 

402.  (276-)    **  Anticipate  means,   by  derivation,   to  take  beforehand,  and  its  proper 
meaning  in  English  is  to  take  first  possession  of,  or  to  take  before  the  proper  time.    If  a  man's 
note  is  due  on  the  soth,  and  he  pays  it  on  the  25th,  he  anticipates  its  due  payment.    A  man  may 
anticipate  another  in  doing  something  which  both  intend  doing;  that  is,  he  may  succeed  in 
doing  it  first.     But  his  looking  forward  to  doing  either  of  these  acts  is  not  anticipation  ;  it  is 
expectation."— Every-Day  English,  p.  413. 

4:03.  Caption.  (276.)—"  The  affectation  of  fine,  big-sounding  words  which  have  a 
flavor  of  classical  learning  has  had  few  more  laughable  or  absurd  manifestations  than  the  use 
of  caption  (which  means  seizure,  act  of  taking),  in  the  sense,  and  in  the  rightful  place,  of  head- 
ing. In  our  newspapers,  even  in  the  best  of  them,  it  is  too  common.  This  monstrous  blunder 
was  first  made  by  some  person  who  knew  that  captain  and  capital  expressed  the  idea  of  head- 
ship, but  who  was  sufficiently  ignorant  to  suppose  that  caption,  from  its  similarity  in  sound  to 
those  words,  had  a  kindred  meaning.  But  captain  and  capital  are  from  the  Latin  caput,  a  head  ; 
and  caption  is  from  capio,  I  seize,  captum,  seized.  Language  rarely  suffers  at  the  hands  of 
simple  ignorance  ;  by  which  indeed  it  is  often  enriched  and  strengthened  ;  but  this  absurd 
misuse  of  caption  is  an  example  of  the  way  in  which  it  is  made  mere  empty  sound,  by  the  pre- 
tentious efforts  of  presuming  half-knowledge." — Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  08. 

404.  ( 276- )   **  Inaugurate  is  a  word  which  might  better  be  eschewed  by  all  those  who 
do  not  wish  to  talk  high-flying  nonsense,  else  they  will  find  themselves  led  by  bad  examples 
into  using  it  in  the  sense  of  begin,  open,  set  up,  establish.    To  inaugurate  is  to  receive  or  induct 
into  office  with  solemn  ceremonies.    The  occasions  are  very  few  in   regard  to  which  it  may  be 
used  with  propriety.     But  we  shall  read  ere  long  of  cooks  inaugurating  the  preparation  of  a 
dinner,  and  old  Irish  women  inaugurating  a  peanut  stand  ;  as  well  these  as  inaugurating,  in- 
stead of  opening,  a  ball,  or  inaugurating,  instead  of  setting  up,  or  establishing,  a  business."— 
Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  128. 

405.  Initiate.    (  276. ) — "  It  may  be  more  elegant  to  say,  the  kettle  took  the  initiative, 
than  to  use  the  homelier  phrase  to  which  our  ears  have  been  accustomed  ;  but  I  have  not  been 
able  to  make  the  discovery.    And  I  may  as  well  here  despatch  a  rabble  of  such  words,  all  of 
kindred  origin  and  pretentious  seeming.     Unless  a  man  is  a  crown  prince,  or  other  important 
public  functionary,  it  is  well  for  him  to  have  a  house  and  a  home,  where  he  lives,  not  a  place  of 


PLAIN   ENGLISH.  219 

residence,  where  he  resides.  From  this  let  him  and  his  household  go  to  church  or  to  meeting,  if 
they  like  to  do  so;  but  let  not  the  inmates  proceed  to  the  sanctuary.  And  if,  being  able  and 
willing  to  do  good,  he  gives  something  to  the  parson  for  the  needy,  let  him  send  his  cheque,  and 
not  transmit  it.  Let  him  oversee  his  household  and  his  business,  not  supervise  them.  Let  him 
reject,  disown,  refuse,  or  condemn  what  he  does  not  like,  but  not  repudiate  it,  unless  he  expects 
to  cause  shame,  or  to  suffer  it,  in  consequence  of  his  action  ;  and  what  he  likes  let  him  like  or 
approve  or  uphold,  but  not  indorse  ;  and,  indeed,  as  to  indorsing,  let  him  do  as  little  of  that  as 
possible.  I  have  come  from  pretension  into  the  shop,  and,  therefore,  I  add,  that  if  he  is  in- 
formed upon  a  subject,  has  learned  all  about  it,  knows  it,  and  understands  it,  let  him  say  so, 
not  that  he  is  well  posted  on  it.  He  will  say  what  he  means,  simply,  clearly,  and  forcibly,  rather 
than  pretentiously,  vulgarly,  and  feebly.  It  is  noteworthy  and  significant  that  the  man  who 
will  say  that  he  is  posted  upon  this  or  that  subject,  is  the  very  one  who  will  use  such  a  foolish, 
useless,  pretentious  word  as  recuperate,  instead  of  recover.  Thus  the  Washington  correspond- 
ent of  a  leading  journal  wrote  that  General  Grant  and  Mr.  Speaker  Colfax  expected  to  start  for 
Colorado  on  the  first  of  July,  and  that  their  trip  is  '  for  the  sole  purpose  of  recuperating  their 
health.'  If  the  writer  had  omitted  five  of  the  eight  words  which  he  used  to  express  the  purpose 
of  the  travellers,  and  said  the  trip  is  '  for  health  only,'  his  sentence  would  have  been  bettered 
inversely  as  the  square  of  the  number  of  words  omitted.  But  it  will  not  do  to  be  so  very  exact- 
ing as  to  ask  people  not  to  use  any  more  words  than  are  necessary,  and  so  all  that  can  be  reason- 
ably hoped  for  is,  that  recuperate  may  be  shown  to  the  door  by  those  who  have  been  weak 
enough  to  admit  him.  He  is  a  mere  pompous  impostor.  At  most  and  best,  recuperate  means 
recover  ;  not  a  jot  more  or  less.  Recover  came  to  us  English  through  our  Norman-French  kins- 
folk, and  sometime  conquerors.  It  is  merely  their  recouvrer  domesticated  in  our  household. 
They  got  it  from  the  Latin  recuperare.  But  why  we  should  go  to  that  word  to  make  another 
from  it,  which  is  simply  a  travesty  of  recover,  passes  reasonable  understanding.  ...  It 
would  be  well  if  all  such  words  as  those  of  which  I  have  just  treated  could  be  gathered  under 
one  head,  to  be  struck  off  at  a  blow  by  those  who  would  like  to  execute  justice  on  them."—  White. 

4:06.  Observe.  ( 276.)—"  Used  to  mean  heed,  take  note  of,  keep  in  view,  follow,  attend 
to,  fulfil,  it  does  good  service.  But  in  the  sense  of  say,  as,  I  observed  to  him  so  and  so,  for,  I 
said  so  and  so  to  him,  or,  What  did  you  observe  ?  for,  What  did  you  say?  it  might  bette'r  be  left 
to  people  who  must  be  veiy  elegant  and  exquisite  in  their  speaking." — Words  and  Their  Uses. 

407.  I*araplieriialla«  (276. )— "It  is  a  law-term  and  only  a  law-term,  originally; 
and  it  so  continues.  Any  use  of  it,  put  of  the  law,  cannot  be  appropriate.  A  man  cannot  have 
paraphernalia.  As  it  is  thus  a  law-term,  'the  people'  would  do  much  better  to  let  it  alone. 
But  as  it  is  a  long  word,  the  attempt  to  make  them  let  it  alone  is  something  like  trying  to  make 
a  boy  let  a  long  stick  of  candy  alone.  As  Hamlet  says  of  '  French  falconers,'  they  '  fly  it  at  any- 
thing they  see,' — appendages,  ornaments,  trappings;  in  short,  a  miscellaneous  collection  of 
any  sort  of  things.  The  word  comes  from  the  Greek,  through  the  Latin,  with  very  little  change 
of  spelling  or  pronunciation,  and  its  meaning  is,  simply  and  concisely,  beyond  dower ;  inde- 
pendent of  dower  ;  that  is,  over  and  above  dower ;  and,  when  combined  in  Law  Latin  thus, 
paraphernalia  dona,  it  means  ' goods  in  the  wife's  disposal,'—'  articles  which  a  wife  brings  with 
her  at  her  marriage,  beyond  her  dower  or  jointure.'  "—Good  English,  p.  54. 

4:08.  (277-)  **  I*reclicate  means  primari  y  to  speak  before,  and,  hence,  to  bear  wit- 
ness, to  affirm,  to  declare.  So  the  Germans  call  their  clergymen  predicants,  because  they  bear 
witness  to  and  declare  the  gospel.  But  in  English,  predicate  is  a  technical  word  used  by  gram- 
marians to  express  that  element  of  the  sentence  which  affirms  something  of  the  subject,  or  (as 
a  noun )  that  which  is  affirmed.  And  thus  action  may  be  predicated  of  a  body  or  an  individual ; 
but  action  predicated  by  a  body  upon  circumstances  or  statements,  is  simple  absurdity.  Those 
persons  for  whom  this  distinction  is  too  subtle  might  better  confine  themselves  to  plain  En- 
glish, and  ask,  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?— language  good  enough  for  a  chief  justice 
or  a  prime  minister." — Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  146. 


220  PLAIN   ENGLISH. 

409.  Counterfeit  Words.  (  278.  )—  There  are  certain  laws,  so  to  speak, 
governing  the  formation,  or  coinage  of  new  words.  Probably  no  one  can  ex- 
plain just  how  or  why  these  laws  exist.  They  seem  to  be  a  part  of  the  life  of 
our  language  ;  to  have,  in  fact,  originated  with  the  language,  and  to  be  an  under- 
lying principle  in  its  growth.  When  these  principles  or  laws  are  violated,  the 
result  is  a  spurious  word,  —  a  base  coin,  and  the  effect  upon  the  language  is 
harmful,  just  as  it  would  be  harmful  to  the  finances  of  a  country  if  the  govern- 
ment should  allow  the  counterfeiting  of  its  currency  to  go  unrestrained. 

For  instance,  one  of  the  principles  of  word-formation  is  that  both  parts  of 
a  derivative  or  compound  shall  be  from  the  same  source.  To  illustrate  this, 
take  the  Greek  suffixes  ize  and  ist,  the  former  being  the  suffix  for  verbs  and  the 
latter  for  nouns.  These  suffixes  should  not  be  added  to  Anglo-Saxon  words. 
The  failure  to  observe  this  rule  leads  to  the  formation  of  such  vulgarisms  as 
talkist,  walkist,  shootist.  The  Anglo-Saxon  suffix  er  should  be  added  to  all 
such  words  as  walk,  talk,  shoot  and  teach,  but  not  to  such  words  as  telegraph, 
photograph,  and  paragraph,  which  should  give  us  telegraphist,  etc. 

Again,  the  Greek  suffix  ize  is  sometimes  erroneously  added  to  verbs  of  long 
standing  in  the  language  without  adding  anything  to  the  meaning.  Thus, 
jeopardize,  '  to  jeopard  ;'  experiineniize  (or  experimentalize—  see  279),  'to  ex- 
periment.' A  good  example  of  a  spurious  compound  is  cablegram,  formed  by 
the  union  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  cable  with  the  Greek  gram.  Concerning  this 
word,  Richard  Grant  White  says,  "  There  could  not  be  a  finer  specimen  of  an 
utterly  superfluous  monster  than  this  English-Greek  hybrid  cablegram." 

4-10.  Anyways,  Towards,  etc.  (  278.  )—"  Early  English  writers  have  given  the 
words  in  a  separate  form  ;  as,  for  example,  the  translators  of  the  Bible  say  to  us  ward,  etc.  But 
where  is  there  a  warrant  for  the  addition  of  the  final  j  to  any  of  the  words,—  excepting  its  in- 
cidental, or  perhaps  accidental,  use  by  certain  old  English  writers,  as  Milton,  Shakespeare,  Dr. 
South,  and  others  ?  Those  authors  are  doubtless  followed  by  modern  writers  without  number  ; 
but  also,  one  might  suppose,  without  reflection  on  the  part  of  the  writers  ;  and  certainly  with- 
out our  knowing  that  the  fault  may  not  have  been  with  the  printer."  —  Good  English,  p.  25. 


Gent  and  Pants.    (  278.  )—  "  Let  these  words  go  together,  like  the  things  they 
signify.    The  one  always  wears  the  other."  —  Words  and  Their  Uses. 
The  things  called  pants  in  certain  documents, 
Were  never  made  for  gentlemen,  but  gents.  —  Oliver   Wendell   Holmes. 

Strictly  speaking,  we  should  say  trousers  instead  of  pantaloons. 

412.  Marry.  (  327.  )—"  There  has  been  not  a  little  discussion  as  to  the  use  of  this  word, 
chiefly  in  regard  to  public  announcements  of  marriage.  The  usual  mode  of  making  the  an- 
nouncement is  '  Married,  John  Smith  to  Mary  Jones.'  Some  people  having  been  dissatisfied 
with  this  form,  we  have  seen,  of  late  years,  in  certain  quarters,  '  Married,  John  Smith  with 
Mary  Jones  ;  and  in  others,  'John  Smith  and  Mary  Jones.'  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
all  of  these  forms  are  incorrect.  We  know,  indeed,  what  is  meant  by  any  one  of  them  ;  but  the 
same  is  true  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  erroneous  uses  of  language.  Properly  speaking,  a 
man  is  not  married  to  a  woman,  or  married  with  her  ;  nor  area  man  and  woman  married  with 
each  other.  The  woman  is  married  to  the  man.  It  is  her  name  that  is  lost  in  his,  not  his  in 
hers  ;  she  becomes  a  member  of  his  family,  not  he  of  hers."—  Words  and  Their  Uses,  p.  139 


PLAIN    ENGLISH.  221 


USAGE  NOT  THE  FINAL  LAW  AS  TO  CORRECTNESS. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  Errors  2,  3,  5,  6,  8,  14,  15,  and  16,  pages  117-19, 
are  questions  of  logical  relations  rather  than  of  "  grammar."  So,  also,  are  most 
of  the  "popular  absurdities,"  pages  128-31.  Indeed,  nearly  all  the  errors  in 
English  syntax  may  be  resolved  into  questions  concerning  the  logical  sequence 
of  words, — their  relations  according  to  sense ;  and  this  law  of  logical  relations 
in  the  sentence  is  the  final  law  as  to  what  is  correct. 

Some,  however,  defend  such  expressions  as  had  rather,  and  is  being  done,  on  the 
ground  that  they  are  idiomatic  and  have  the  support  of  good  usage.  It  is  true 
that  idioms,  being,  in  the  main,  metaphorical,  defy  all  attempts  at  classification 
according  to  the  technical  terms  and  definitions  of  "  grammar  ;  "  but  an  idiom 
should  not  be  illogical,  and  those  idioms  that  are  not  logical  will  sooner  or  later 
be  discarded  as  erroneous,  just  as  in  the  case  of  "  whether  or  no."  [  See  379.] 

As  to  usage  :  No  amount  of  good  usage,  however  eminent  the  users  may  be, 
can  make  a  wrong — an  illogical — thing  right;  nor  will  calling  an  illogical 
expression  an  "  idiom  "  save  it  from  the  fate  it  deserves,  though  it  may  require 
a  long  time  to  bring  people  to  see  that  it  is  wrong. 

The  idea  that  usage  decides  all  questions  as  to  correctness  of  speech  is  an 
erroneous  one,  and  one  that  has  done  much  harm.  There  is  scarcely  an  error 
in  English  syntax  (even  the  gross  errors  which  grammarians  and  others  have 
pointed  out  and  sought  to  correct  in  their  chapters  on  "  false  syntax,"  )  but  may 
be  justified  and  defended  on  the  ground  of  "-good  usage'' 

The  first  concern  of  the  great  speaker  or  the  great  writer  is  not  about  words, 
which  are  but  the  vehicles  of  thought,  but  with  great  thoughts  and  themes. 
Often  these  thoughts  come  as  an  inspiration  to  such  a  person  and  his  business  is 
to  give  them  to  the  world.  In  his  impassioned  utterances,  the  speaker's  tongue 
may  not  always  be  accurate,  and  it  is  often  the  case  that  he  has  not  an  opportun- 
ity to  recast  his  sentences  before  they  appear  in  print.  With  the  writer,  it  is 
different.  He  is  supposed  to  use  greater  care  in  his  choice  of  words  and  forms 
of  expression  ;  but  much  of  our  best  English  literature  has  come  from  pens 
that  have  been  impelled  by  impassioned  or  inspired  minds.  And  so  pens  have 
slipped,  as  well  as  tongues. 

Again,  many  errors  in  our  great  masterpieces  of  literature  have  been  the 
result  of  imperfect,  or  incorrect  translation,  while  still  others,  no  doubt, 
have  crept  in  through  the  carelessness  of  printers. 

Of  course,  when  the  common  people  find  certain  words  and  forms  of  expres- 
sion in  what  is  regarded  as  good  literature,  or  hear  them  from  the  lips  of  good 
public  speakers,  they  (the  people)  are  excusable  for  supposing  them  to  be  cor- 
rect and,  hence,  for  using  them.  But  if  such  words  and  expressions  are  incor- 
rect— illogical — it  is  the  duty  of  teachers  of  our  language  to  point  out  the  fact 
and  do  what  they  can  to  help  preserve  the  purity,  simplicity,  and  logical  force  of 
our  noble  English  tongue. 


222  PLAIN    ENGLISH. 


THE  ENGLISH  A  GRAMMARLESS  LANGUAGE. 

"  If  then  Grammar  be  merely  declension  and  conjugation,  which  is  not  far 
from  the  truth,  it  plays  comparatively  a  very  insignificant  part  in  English.  All 
the  irregularities  of  our  language  are  more  than  compensated  by  the  extreme 
paucity  [small  number]  of  its  grammatical  forms.  It  is  almost  as  grammarless 
as  Chinese,  in  which  no  written  word  is  ever  varied  by  a  single  stroke  or  dot, 
and  when  spoken  admits  of  only  a  change  of  tone.  The  weary  hours  and  years 
spent  by  our  youth  in  parsing  English  sentences  according  to  forms  borrowed 
from  Greek  and  Latin  are  worse  than  wasted — useless  for  the  avowed  purpose 
of  learning  to  speak  and  write,  and  leading  to  a  misapprehension  of  -what  our 
language  is.  .  Grammar  then  treats  of  everything  relating  to  a 

language  that  can  be  reduced  to  general  facts,  principles,  or  rules.  It  has  to 
deal  chiefly  with  the  various  forms  assumed  by  the  same  words.  This  is,  in 
English,  a  very  narrow  field,  but  extremely  rocky." — Samuel  Ramsey. 

Sir  Philip  Sidney,  in  his  "Apology  for  Poetry,"  published  in  1595,  said : 

"  I  know  some  will  say  it  is  a  mingled  language.  And  why  not  so  much  the  better,  taking 
the  best  of  both  the  other?  Another  will  say  that  it  wan  teth  [lacks]  grammer.  Nay,  truly,  it 
hath  that  praise  that  it  wanteth  not  (  does  not  need]  grammer  ;  for  grammer  it  might  have,  but 
it  needes  it  not ;  being  so  easie  of  itselfe,  and  so  voyd  of  those  cumbersome  differences  of  cases, 
genders,  moodes,  and  tenses,  which  I  think  was  a  peece  of  the  Tower  of  Babilon's  curse  that 
a  man  should  be  put  schoole  to  learne  his  mother  tongue.  But  for  the  uttering  sweetly  and 
properly  the  conceits  of  the  minde,  which  is  the  end  of  speech,  that  hath  it  equally  with  any 
other  tongue  in  the  world ;  and  is  particularly  happy  in  compositions  of  two  or  three  words 
together,  neere  the  Greeke,  far  beyond  the  Ratine,  which  is  one  of  the  greatest  beauties  can  be 
in  a  language." 

"  The  reason  why  English  has  no  grammar  is  that  it  Is  tmcunTDered  with  cases, 
genders,  moods,  and  tenses,  and,  we  may  almost  say,  with  grammatical  person. 
For  these  are  the  essence  of  grammar,  or  rather,  I  should  say,  its  conditions ; 
without  them  there  can  be  no  grammar.  Grammar  has  to  do  with  the  correct 
form  and  correlation  of  words.  But  in  English  there  is  no  form,  and  conse- 
quently no  correlation  dependent  upon  form  that  has  any  noteworthy  influence 
upon  the  construction  of  the  sentence.  Let  candid  objectors  wait  a  little  before 
they  spring  up  to  reply.  I  said  '  noteworthy  influence  '  meaning  "by  this  phrase 
to  allow  for  certain  small  remnants  of  grammar  which  are  to  be  found  in  the 
English  language.  For  English  had  once  a  grammar.  When  the  English- 
speaking  people  were  rude,  ignorant,  savage,  and  heathen,  without  literature, 
without  any  semblance  of  fine  art,  knowing  little  even  of  the  useful  arts,  living 
in  hovels,  tilling  the  ground  in  the  rudest  manner,  having  a  money  price  for 
man's  life,  their  language  had  a  grammar,  which  surpassed  in  complexity  that 
of  the  Romans,  and  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  Greeks.  But  as  they  became 
civilized  they  rid  themselves  of  this  complexity;  and  when  they  had  reached 
the  point  at  which  they  were  about  to  produce  a  Bacon  and  a  Shakespeare,  they 
had,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  freed  themselves  from  it  entirely." —  White. 


INDEX. 


Numbers  refer  to  paragraphs.    For  general  subjects,  see  Table  of  Contents. 


Absolute  constructions,  214. 

Adjectives,  15;  predicate  adjectives,  16; 
deriv.  andcomp.,  68-9;  kinds  of,  87-93;  how 
to  distinguish  from  pro.,  94 ;  forms  of,  145  ; 
comparison,  145;  facts  and  errors,  241-8. 

Adjective-phrases,  6gG. 

Adjectival   phrases,  27 a;   clauses,  118. 

Adverbs,  19-21,  336;  how  to  tell,  22; 
deriv.  and  comp.,  72-3;  classes  of,  103-5; 
facts  and  errors,  241-8. 

Adverb-phrases,  73 7. 

Adverbial  phrases,   27^7   clauses,  117. 

Adverbial  nouns,  79^,  109,  217,  373. 

Analysis,  33;  exercises — simple  sen- 
tences, 36,  40-1,  44 ;  compound  sentences,  51 ; 
complex  sentences,  117-25;  miscel.,  228. 

Appositional  use  of  nouns,  208 ;  pro- 
nouns, 209;  adj.,  372;  infi.  and  part.,  224. 

Articles,  90,  349,  358,  370. 

Attendant  elements,  215. 

Auxiliary  verbs,  197 ;  uses,  etc.,  199-204. 

Can  and  could,  202. 

Clauses,  ma;  adverbial,  117;  adjec- 
tival, 118;  noun,  120-3;  conditional,  188-9. 

Comparatives,  ii25;  form  of  pronoun 
after  as  and  than,  237  a. 

Conjugation,    177;  exercises,  178-80-6. 

Conjunctions,  29,  339;  composition  of, 
76;  kinds,— co-ordinate,  no;  subordinate, 
in;  correlative,  114,  264;  errors,  264-6. 

Conjunctive-adverbs,  105. 

Conjunction-phrases,  76  a,  113. 

Copula  verbs,  i6a,  no£,  Note ;  352. 

Elements,  34;  principal,  35;  subordi- 
nate, 37;  adjectival,  38;  adverbial,  39,  336 £,• 
objective,  42-8 ;  connecting,  49,  356  ;  word, 
phrase,  clause,  49;  forms  of,— simple,  com- 
plex, compound,  49  ;  order  of,  52-3  ;  placing 
in  logical  order— exercise,  54  ;  attendant,  215. 


"Gender,"  361. 

Had  rather •,  etc.,  380. 

Have,  use  in  verb-phrases,  180,  367  a. 

Independent  words,  31,  Note;  206. 

Infinitives,  190;  constructions,  191, 
222-5  .'  "  sign  "  of  omitted,  192  ;  summary  of 
uses,  226 ;  infinitive-phrases,  194. 

Interjections,  31,  340. 

Is  being  built,  etc.,  386. 

//  and  there,  indef.  subjects,  108,  212. 

Lie  and  lay,  25818,  381. 

May  and  might,  201. 

"Mode,"  368. 

Must  and  ought,  203. 

Nouns,  4  a,  5*;   predicate    nouns,    17; 

derivative  and  compound,  64-5;  kinds  of, 
78-9 ;  forms  of;  facts  and  errors,  229-233. 

Number-form  of  nouns,  128;  of  pro- 
nouns, 140  ;  of  adjectives,  150 ;  of  verbs,  152. 

Object,  42,  343;  how  to  tell,  43;  direct 
and  indirect,  46;  objective  element,  48;  ob- 
jects of  intransitive  verbs  and  passive  verb- 
phrases,  218-19;  supplemented  object,  221; 
complement  of,  222. 

Participles,    165;    how  to   distinguish 

from  nouns  and  adjectives,  170. 
Participle-phrases,  195 ;  used  as  nouns, 

196;  summary  of  uses,  226. 
Parts  of  speech,  i,  4,  5*,  331. 
Phrases,  10;  adjectival,  27 a;  noun, 65* ; 

adjective,  696  ;  adverb,  73?  ;  adverbial,  273,- 

predicate-adjectival,  41  a,  342  ;  inverted,  41  c ; 

punctuation  of,  304. 
Possessive    form    of  nouns,    135;    in 

apposition,  363 ;  of  pronouns,   141-2 ;  joint 

and  separate  poss.,  136;  poss.  phrases,  137. 
Predicate,  3-5 ;  must  contain  a  verb,  9; 

bare  and  complete,  37;  active  and  passive 

forms,  1 01. 


INDEX. 


Prepositions,  26 ;  deriv.  and  comp.,  74-5 ; 

facts  and  errors,  260-3;  appropriate,    324-8. 
Preposition-phrases,  75*,  338. 
Principal  parts  of  verbs,  177. 
Pronouns,  11,334;  simple  and  comp., 

66-7;  kinds  of,  80-4 ;  how  to  distinguish  from 

adjectives,  94 ;  forms   of,  140-1-3 ;  facts  and 

errors,  234-240. 
Pronoun-phrases,  67 3. 

Sentences,  2,  52;   simple  and    comp., 

50  ;  kinds  of,  55-8 ;  complex,  124. 
Sex  distinction  in  nouns,  134,  361. 
Shall  and  will,  173-5,  199,  366- 
Should  and  would,   200. 
Subject  and  predicate,  3,  53 ;  bare  and 

complete,  37, 341 ;  complement  of  subject,  223. 
Supplements  of  obj.  and  subj.,  221-2, 375. 
Sit&ndset,  258* 4,  382. 

"Tense,"  161,  Note;  367. 
77m/,  8s/;  "  clause  article,"  358. 
Time-form    of    verbs,    160;    but   two 
forms,  161,  1730. 


To,  "  sign  "  of  infinitive,  190-2,  370. 

Verbs,  4^,  55,  332;  copulas,  i6a,  ioo£, 
Note;  352;  deriv.  and  comp.,  70-1;  kinds, 
96-8;  how  to  tell  trans,  from  intrans.,  100; 
reg.  and  irreg.,  162;  prin.  parts,  177;  infini- 
tives, 190;  facts  and  errors,  249-59;  list  of 
irregular,  329 ;  defective,  330. 

Verb-forms:  number,  152;  person,  157- 
9,  364;  time,  160;  regular  and  irregular, 
162;  other  irregular  forms,  163;  participle 
forms,  164-6 ;  summary,  168 ;  archaic,  169. 

Verb-phrases,  10,  333  a;  passive,  ioi} 
184;  expressing  future  time,  173;  "perfect" 
time,  180-2 ;  progressive,  187  ;  emphatic,  205. 

Verbals,  164. 

Were  used  in  the  present,  188-9. 

Who,  which  and  that,  uses  of,  85,  347. 

Words,  i ;  do  not  always  belong  to 
same  part-of-speech,  32,  331 ;  Anglo-Saxon 
and  foreign,  59 ;  simple,  derivative  and  com- 
pound, 60-2 ;  independent,  206 ;  introductory, 
207 ;  explanatory,  208. 

Word-making,  63-76. 


PRINCIPAL  AUTHORS  CONSULTED. 

ABBOTT,  REV.  E.  A.1— How  to  Write  Clearly,  1876.     How  to  tell  the  Parts  oj 

Speech,  1883.     How  to  Parse,  1883.— Roberts  Brothers,  Boston. 
CAMPBELL,  L.  J. — Hand-book  of  Synonyms  and  Prepositions,  1881.     (Ed.  1890.) 

Lee  &  Shepard,  Boston. 

GOULD,  REV.  EDW.  S.—  Good  English,  i88o.--A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son,  N.  Y. 
MATHEWS,  WILLIAM —  Words :    Their  Use  and  Abuse,  1880. 

S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
RAMSEY,  SAMUEL — The  English  Language  and  English  Grammar,  1892. 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  N.  Y. 

SiLL,  J.  M.  B. 2 — Practical  Lessons  in  English,  1880. — American  Book  Co.,  N.  Y. 
TOWNSEND,  L.  I—Art  of  Speech,  1884.— D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y. 
WHITE,  RICHARD  GRANT — Every-Day  English,  1880.     Words  and  Their  Uses, 

1870.     (igthEd.  1890.)— Hough  ton,   Mifflin  &  Co.,  Boston. 
WHITNEY,  W.  D. 3 — Essentials  of  English  Grammar,  1880. 
WHITNEY  &  LOCKWOOD — English  Grammar,  1892. — Ginn  &  Company,  Boston. 

1.  Head  Master  of  the  City  of  London  School. 

2.  Principal  State  Normal  School,  Ypsilanti,  Michigan. 

3.  Professor  of  Languages  in  Yale  University  ;  Editor-in-chief  of  the  Century  Dictionary. 


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